With in-person instruction becoming the exception rather than the norm, 54% of parents with school-age children expressed concern that their children could fall behind academically, according to a poll conducted over the summer of 2020. Initial projections from the Northwest Evaluation Association, which conducts research and creates commonly used standardized tests, suggest that these fears are well-grounded, especially for children from low-income families.
Based on the association’s findings and my own research regarding academic achievement and socioeconomic status, I believe it’s likely, based on these early projections, that the widespread and rapid switch to remote schooling will have negative long-term academic consequences.
One possibility is that the share of students who end up repeating at least one grade at some point could rise due to this unprecedented disruption.
According to government data collected in 2018, only about 6% of U.S. students had to repeat a grade before graduating from high school prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Any potential effort to make students repeat a grade when they can’t demonstrate they have learned enough to advance to the next one would build on some recent precedents.
Read the full article at The Conversation.
