Schools, teachers, and students continue to seek a new normal after two years of disrupted learning. As we learn more about the ongoing impacts of the pandemic on education, it becomes clear that learning loss still exists for many students.
According to a recent study by the Khan Academy, over 80% of teachers reported that “when introduced to new concepts, their students needed more help than they would have needed before the pandemic.” Even as they progress in grade level and curriculum, students continue to face unfinished or incomplete learning. While schools work to get students back on track, it’s essential that they also focus on identifying and closing these existing learning gaps.
Current barriers to learning recovery
Teachers in the Khan Academy survey cited student behavior and mental health issues as two of the most significant barriers to addressing pandemic-related unfinished learning. Other reported barriers included the overwhelming amount of demands on a teacher’s time and a lack of flexibility in the school year to identify and address issues.
Teachers reported these barriers:
- Student behavioral issues (67%)
- Too many demands on my time (I feel stretched too thin) (61%)
- Student mental health (57%)
- Out-of-school factors such as community poverty (54%)
- Not enough flexibility or time in the school year to pause and address issues (53%)
- Large class sizes (49%)
- Lack of time in the school day (41%)
- Lack of planning time (38%)
Student behavioral and mental health issues
The mental health and behavioral issues experienced by students today pose challenges to continued education as schools try to move forward. They also create roadblocks for helping students close existing gaps in learning:
- Almost 70% of teachers who participated in the survey cited behavioral issues as a major barrier to learning recovery.
- Over 50% percent of teachers reported student mental health as a barrier.
Students are trying to familiarize themselves with a classroom environment after years of disruptions and online learning. Support systems at home might also face limitations due to the pandemic.
As a result, we are seeing increased rates of depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues in students. Educators also face rising behavioral issues as some students struggle to return to in-person learning.
Even before the pandemic, research had shown the importance of mental health and behavioral support systems in schools. This need will only grow if schools want to successfully pursue progress and resolve significant gaps.
Insufficient scheduling support for teachers
Limited time and scheduling for educators was a common issue cited by numerous survey participants. Teachers noted that scheduling challenges came in varied forms like:
- Too many demands on my time (I feel stretched too thin) (61%)
- Not enough flexibility or time in the school year to pause and address issues (53%)
- Lack of time in the school day (41%)
- Lack of planning time (38%)
Teachers currently experience a growing list of responsibilities and not enough to achieve those demands. They’re under increasing pressure to keep students and the curriculum moving forward. At the same time, they have to manage students’ mental health and behavioral needs.
Without scheduling support, teachers struggle to identify and address issues with a student. They can’t plan the most effective lessons or assess the efficacy of their instruction. Ultimately, teachers burn out because they’re stretched too thin.
Scheduling and expectations for teachers are major hindrances to closing learning gaps. It’s more important than ever for schools to reevaluate both in order to make educated decisions on how best to use teacher resources in the future.
How to close the gaps in pandemic learning recovery
Increase emotional and behavioral support for students
When asked to identify the most important changes that would aid students in recovering from the learning lost during the pandemic, 60% of teachers suggested an increase in emotional or behavioral support.
Schools can provide this support by implementing programs like:
- Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
- Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
- Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)
All of the above frameworks are research-driven and have years of data to support their efficacy. Schools that prioritize forms of support like these often report higher rates of student engagement and lower rates of behavioral referrals, detentions, and suspensions. Educators can make impactful and long-lasting progress toward closing pandemic-related learning loss by adopting one of these evidence-based approaches.
Provide tools and support for implementing mastery learning
When asked to identify different measures that would improve learning recovery, teachers referenced numerous methods that involved mastery learning:
- Less rigid district pacing guides, so I have more flexibility to offer instruction and practice until a skill is mastered (52%)
- Offering more opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery (50%)
- More support or tools to provide instruction and practice until mastery is reached (47%)
- Tools to easily help me know which skills a student has mastered or not mastered (46%)
Through mastery learning, students learn at a pace that fits their unique needs. Instead of everyone in a class progressing at the same pace, additional support is given to students who need it. Gaps in learning are identified and students receive support until they’ve mastered a particular skill.
Schools can foster mastery learning through frameworks like MTSS. The three tiers of support in MTSS ensure that all students reach their academic potential. Like mastery learning, this system helps to identify and support the unique educational needs of every student.
Give teachers more time (where they want it)
As discussed earlier, over 60% of teachers surveyed identified “Too many demands on my time” as one of the top three barriers to learning recovery.
They also cited an inability to focus their time on areas that they felt it was most needed. For example, over 60% of teachers reported that they didn’t spend enough time providing feedback to students. Participants also said that rigid school schedules or curricula made it more difficult for them to slow down to address learning gaps or student needs.
Schools can close learning gaps by supporting the scheduling needs of their teachers as best as they can. Time is a limited resource for many teachers, and it’s important for schools to work with their educators on ways to maximize the time available.
Schools can help their teachers use time more effectively by:
- Implementing tiered support systems and SEL. These data-driven methodologies are proven to save teachers time by:
- Lowering rates of behavioral referrals, freeing up time that a teacher normally spends on referral paperwork and incident reports
- Increasing the time spent learning due to reduced use of exclusionary punishments like detentions and suspensions
- Improving student engagement, which leads to higher-value classroom time
- Using the right technology tools to identify at-risk students, streamline teaching and administrative tasks, and motivate students to improve their behavior
Conclusion
Now is an important time to explore a variety of strategies, tools, and solutions for moving forward and repairing the damage done to our education system by the pandemic. There is, of course, still a lot of work ahead in helping students catch up and reach appropriate academic milestones.
One of the most important considerations for tackling that work is seeing today’s learning loss among students as not only academic, but also social-emotional and behavioral.
If schools can support students and teachers to close these learning gaps, then they will have created a stronger foundation for continued growth and positive student outcomes in the future.
Photo Credit: Google Education
School & District Leadership