Summer learning loss, summer slide—these familiar terms describe the loss of learning over the summer from the prior school year because of the lengthy absence from school. On top of that, we are now (unfortunately) dealing with COVID learning loss, which still lingers as a result of school disruptions and prolonged virtual learning. Combined, this loss of learning creates a dangerous and slippery slope that schools and students have been struggling to climb since the spring of 2020. But there is a way to combat summer slide and COVID learning loss. First, let’s look at some staggering data surrounding learning [...]

The devastating learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been well-documented, and its effects still linger today. A recent survey shows that  59% of families are worried that their children will experience long-term academic struggles because of disruptions to their education (both academic and emotional) during the COVID-19 pandemic*. In addition, the most recent i-Ready assessments, for the 2021-22 school year, reveal that fewer children in the early grades (K-3) are developing essential phonics skills. Math scores aren’t much better; in grades 5 through 8, for example, fewer students than ever are developing essential math skills like understanding place [...]

Two decades’ worth of progress…gone. Just like that. Everyone was aware of the learning loss and intellectual damage done by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the recently released National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores offer grim, sobering insight on just how devastating the pandemic was to education—math and reading scores for 9-year-olds across the United States dropped dramatically between 2020 and 2022, resulting in performance in these subjects dropping to the levels of 20 years ago. NAEP Test Background and Insights For those unfamiliar, the NAEP test is a gold standard colloquially known as “the nation’s report card” and is [...]