From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov

Transcript for: Pandemic Learning Loss III - Director Summary

Description:As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to reverberate across the
nation, for millions of students, educators, and families, the current
school year is rife with challenges. The long-term impact of the
disruptions of the last 2 years on student enrollment and attendance
remains to be seen. Many students faced difficulties staying engaged in
school or disappeared from school altogether. As part of our work on
COVID-19, we surveyed K-12 public school teachers, and held discussion
groups with them, as well as principals and parents to hear their
perspectives on how the pandemic affected students. 

Released: June 2022

Related GAO Works: GAO-22-105816. Pandemic Learning Loss III

[Jaqueline Nowicki, Director, Education Workforce, and Income Security
Team, speaking to the camera ]

As a parent I know being a teacher is not an easy job. But few of us
could have imagined what obstacles lay ahead once the COVID 19 pandemic
hit in the spring of 2020. Homes turned into classrooms like this space
behind me that became the classroom for my then 10th grader. As part of
our work on COVID 19, we surveyed K-12 public school teachers and held
discussion groups with them, as well as principals and parents to hear
their perspective on how the pandemic affected students.

They reported obstacles ranging from a lack of appropriate workspaces,
disengagement and absences to things like lack of computer, reliable
Internet access and more. Simply put, obstacles abounded, and teachers
reported that very few strategies were effective in mitigating learning
loss for most of their students. We also identified certain populations
who are especially vulnerable to learning loss in a virtual environment.

Teachers with mostly high poverty students and teachers with at least
20% of their students being English learners were more likely to report
that students lacked an appropriate workspace. They were also more
likely to report their students lacked access to school meals and that
they more frequently missed class. Check out our full report to learn
more.

[End]

For more info, see our reports GAO-22-105815, GAO-22-105816, and
GAO-22-105817 at: GAO.gov