What’s Real About Learning Loss?

Like most issues in America these days, there is a raging debate about “learning loss.” Because of losing school time due to the COVID pandemic, some fear America’s youth are falling behind in their reading and mathematical problem-solving abilities, while others feel young learners haven’t lost much ground in those areas and, instead, have become smarter and stronger in other types of life skills.

A little over a year ago, Marian Dingle, a veteran elementary educator in Georgia, wrote the following in EducationWeek about “learning loss”:

“At the risk of aging myself, I first learned of the quantification of learning with the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, a norm-referenced test, over 20 years ago. Predating No Child Left Behind, students took this test every year, and scores were reported in “grade equivalents” or GEs. A school year was reduced to 10 months, so each month was a tenth of a school year and a month of learning. A “typical” student at the beginning of their 2nd grade year was at 2.0. If satisfactory progress was made, when the student tested again a year later, the student would be at 3.0. Teachers were judged by this standard and received both accolades and reprimands because of these numbers. Reputations were based on which teachers could average a 1.5 in “growth” or gain of their students. Those who were not able to consistently produce them, and thus, earned “losses” were often placed on improvement plans. As a beginning teacher, it was hard not to internalize this culture of competition. Students were also aware of their scores and gains, as these were used for eligibility into gifted and enrichment programs. A few years after this came the statewide standards-based test, which, in our state, also determined promotion to the next grade. Teachers were now judged, and learning was now measured, differently, but the terms of gain and loss have not left department and staff meetings. The internalization of gain and loss affects both teachers and students.”

“It is really convenient that there are 10 months in a school year and that we use the base 10 system. However, any observer of children, whether it is a pediatrician, a parent, or a child-care worker, can tell you that learning is not linear. There has never been a good reason to expect that it is. Teaching and learning are both art and science; no one knows exactly how and why the light bulb illuminates when it does. Teaching is an act of faith. Sometimes the benefits of a teacher don’t manifest until years later. Neither teacher nor student should be punished for that. Despite the spirit of not leaving a single child behind, there was a light shone that many had been. Test scores were racialized, and the inequities were obvious. Many explanations were offered, and there was no short cut of remedies. The test-prep industry boomed, marketing their solutions to districts hungry for solutions. Unfortunately, many of the solutions centered around deficit frameworks for marginalized students, ignoring the culturally relevant pedagogy of Dr. Gloria Ladson Billings and many others. Districts purchased different programs and resources and engaged in training their staff. Yet, most did not produce the desired result: the end of predictable performance outcomes based on race.”

“The introduction of widespread remote learning was, of course, a shock. It was necessary to preserve life and buy us time as we acquired scientific knowledge. The education system was forced to learn how to continue with learning in real time. For many of us, summer could not come too soon. Feeling like a first-year teacher again (a pretty horrific state for those of you who have not taught) had taken its toll. We were relieved that we had made it and done our part. However, the exposure to racial trauma meant that none of us got a rest. It was inescapable, especially for those who were in targeted groups. Even the youngest children, I believe, were affected by it. Before the new school year had even begun, those involved in teaching and learning, students and teachers, had to wonder if school would be a safe place for them in the fall. For some, it was. Dr. Bettina Love and others have written about how Black parents have noticed a renewed interest in school by their children. They feel freer to discover their true selves, free of spirit-murdering practices. Many of my teaching colleagues around the country are reporting the same—an actual increase in academic performance: The time on screen is now free of microaggressions and more humane. Many students, not just Black ones, are being taught by teachers who involve families in new ways, finding a new freedom they did not have before, in both remote and hybrid situations. To insist that our students have suffered learning loss begs us to ask: Loss from what? Loss for whom? Who is gaining now? What if the loss is a loss in inflicting harm? Many have suggested that this pandemic offers an opportunity to create a new vision of education. I want one that has no use for terms like “loss” or “gain.” Learning just is. It happens when it happens through the intentional co-construction of a community built on respect, love, and humanity. On screen or in person.”

Let’s be clear here. We had “learning loss” before COVID reared its ugly head. The pre-COVID “learning loss” infected primarily black, brown, and poor kids across the country. The traditional public school system was not successful, to a large degree, in eliminating “learning loss” pre-COVID, and now it claims “learning loss” is more of a problem than ever before.

The fact that most traditional public schools still operate on a 8 A.M. to 3 P.M., August to May schedule makes it hard to see how today’s school campuses can endorse and practice more of an “anytime, anywhere” approach to learning advocated above by Ms. Dingle.

Might it be the traditionalists are crying “learning loss” in the hopes of doubling-down on existing practices and schedules they are most comfortable with moving forward?

There’s not doubt in my mind that all our kids can “catch up” from their “learning loss,” whether it was induced by the COVID pandemic or, in the case of black, brown, and poor kids, because of years and years of neglect in the form of bad teaching, low expectations, and covert or sometimes blatant racism. But, to “catch up,” we adults need to change our practices, and fast. Or, we have little chance to witness “breakthrough learning,” instead of the dreaded “learning loss.”

Til tomorrow. SVB