America’s Schools are Failing the COVID Generation: Shocking Report Reveals Disturbing State of Education
According to a scathing new study published by the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), America’s schools are failing the COVID generation and older students who continue to struggle academically after years of disruption. The report, issued by the nonpartisan research organization based at Arizona State University, paints a grim picture of the education system and highlights the devastating impact of the pandemic.
The study reveals that an alarming one-third of fourth and eighth-grade students are unable to read at a basic level. Rocketing absence rates during the 2021-2022 school year, with 16 million students chronically absent, are partly to blame. This represents a staggering increase compared to previous years. The report further emphasizes the significant toll the pandemic has taken on students’ behavioral and social-emotional development, as over 80% of public schools reported stunted progress in these areas.
Notably, the report emphasizes the plight of the 13.5 million students nearing graduation or those who have recently left. These students have been particularly impacted by the pandemic, as evidenced by the sharp decline in their ACT college admission scores, which are now the lowest since 1991. Additionally, enrollment numbers in public universities and community colleges have seen a 7% decline from 2019 to 2023, with the most pronounced drop occurring in two-year institutions.
The authors of the report note that three years into the pandemic, COVID-19 continues to disrupt learning in insidious and hidden ways. The situation is described as sobering by Robin Lake, the director of CRPE. Lake asserts that many students have graduated without the necessary skills and warns that this trend will persist unless changes are made. Inadequate strategies for catching students up, heightened stress levels among teachers, and a decline in lesson quality are identified as contributing factors.
The report highlights the glaring lack of high-impact tutoring, which less than 2% of students receive. Mental health support, individualized instruction, and students’ enthusiasm for learning were also rated poorly in a survey conducted by Gallup. Moreover, teachers reported stress levels nearly double those prior to the pandemic.
The Nation’s Report Card, from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), reveals a significant decline in math and reading scores for 13-year-olds during the pandemic. Math scores dropped by nine points between the 2019-2020 and 2022-23 academic years, while reading scores fell by four points. These numbers demonstrate the profound impact of school closures and remote learning on students’ academic performance.
In conclusion, this report serves as a wakeup call, exposing the dire state of America’s education system. Urgent action is needed to address the academic setbacks, emotional toll, and overall detrimental consequences experienced by the COVID generation. Failure to do so will have lasting repercussions on the future of education in the United States.
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