Community Talk - Learning Loss and COVID-19, What You Need to Know

Parents around the country are worried about learning loss and the long-term effects that time away from school due to the coronavirus is having on student progress and achievement.

Standford University's Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) released (October 2020) a report on estimated learning losses for students in 19 states. CREDO calculated "COVID slide" in part by using "summer slide" data. Summer slide is the erosion of learning that typically happens from the end of one school year to the beginning of the next. The learning loss estimates were translated into lost days of learning based on a typical 180-day school year. Across 19 states, the average estimates of how much students lost in the Spring of 2020 ranged from 57 to 183 days of learning in Reading and from 136 to 232 days of learning in Math. For students who were already behind and struggling to keep us, this is an even bigger challenge.

While widespread data is scarce, availalbe information shows the pandemic has had a lare and uneven impact on student learning. This Community Talk will focus on understand the learning loss associated with COVID-19, what resources are available to combat learning loss, plotting a recovery course and how parents can support their child.