Pandemic learning loss expected to linger longer than expected
Chris Haskins didn't let distance learning get him down. When things got tough, the Solano County Dad stepped things up.
In 2020, Haskins started a Facebook support group for Dixon parents and students struggling through distance learning.
"I think we all are going to be hitting some rough patches over these next few months where we're pulling our hair out and hitting a brick wall," Haskins told CBS13.
Now, three years later, Haskins is beyond distance learning. He's facing new challenges with his kids as a dad and as a new para-educator.
That was in 2020, when Haskins started a Facebook *Support Group for parents in Dixon - *struggling with their kids through distance learning.
"My youngest missed all of junior high. The kids that I'm working with in my school missed those vital first years of kindergarten and first grade, etc. So those are really big holes," said Haskins.
He says the challenges will fall on educators for at least the next decade and he's not wrong. According to a new study of the 2022-23 school year, students aren't making up the lost ground in math and reading.
The Center for School and Student Progress found, on average, students need an additional four months of schooling in reading and an extra 4.5 months in math to catch up to the typical pre-pandemic student. A year of summer school isn't enough.
Kat Ellis rises to a good challenge. We met her as a Lodi teacher when she became known as 'That Singing Teacher' on TikTok pulling off wild stunts to keep kids engaged during distance learning.
Fast forward three years later and she's tackling pandemic learning loss as the MTSS coordinator at Lighthouse Charter School in West Sacramento.
"After the pandemic, a lot of especially primary students did not have any writing skills," Ellis recalled.
So part of her job now is closing those gaps. Ellis coaches teachers on assessing students to get them caught up. She analyzes student data and then develops groups differentiating the instruction to meet each student's needs.
"We've always been doing this, but I think now, small groups are becoming more and more normed across the board because students are really at varying levels," said Ellis. "Honestly, last year, and the year before that I was looking at when were they in education? What grade level were they in when COVID hit?"
Even then, it could be years before they're back to those pre-pandemic levels.
"I wouldn't say we're out of the woods just yet. I think that we just got to keep climbing up that mountain," said Ellis. "A lot of their [students] responses were, 'I can't do it.' And so my response was always, 'Yet.'
Now, it's a community effort to close the gaps with teachers like Ellis and parents like Haskins acknowledging we're not out of the woods, but have the tools to get there. Haskins says parents and even school officials still post on his distance learning support group Facebook page.
"That's kind of what I what I took even from creating that group. It's like, even if one or two or a handful of kids or parents got some kind of support, you know, that means something," said Haskins.
Sacramento City Unified Schools set up a four-phase plan during the last school year that addressed learning recovery, including extra education services based on student and family needs. Now they're offering expanded learning programs before and after school with free academic support and enrichment activities.