New research shows high costs of long school closures

Hotair.com ^ | 5-5-22 | DAVID LEONHARDT

[DeweyCA]

The researchers broke the students into different groups based on how much time they had spent attending in-person school during 2020-21 — the academic year with the most variation in whether schools were open. On average, students who attended in-person school for nearly all of 2020-21 lost about 20 percent worth of a typical school year’s math learning during the study’s two-year window.

Some of those losses stemmed from the time the students had spent learning remotely during the spring of 2020, when school buildings were almost universally closed. And some of the losses stemmed from the difficulties of in-person schooling during the pandemic, as families coped with disruption and illness.

But students who stayed home for most of 2020-21 fared much worse. On average, they lost the equivalent of about 50 percent of a typical school year’s math learning during the study’s two-year window.

[DeweyCA]

The author uses this excerpt from The New York Times to show that Republican governors, such as DeSantis, were correct in keeping schools open, by Dem governors who listened to Fauci and the hysterical media were completely wrong and severely damaged the lives of millions of children, especially minority children.

[Tell It Right]

The good news is that, because the lockdowns made kids 50% behind on math it means they’re 50% less racist. LOL

[momincombatboots]

If they cared at all about Mother Earth, they would close schools for good. The difference in traffic during school open n close hours is significant. After all, Disney can indoctrinate much more effectively.

[Amendment10]

Thank you for referencing that article DeweyCA. Please note that the following critique is directed at the article and not at you.

Regarding overall school costs, even distance "learning" can indoctrinate students.

Insights welcome.

[dgbrown]

I remember being told when I was on a schoolboard, if a child isn’t proficient in reading by third grade they will never recover and have a greater risk of dropping out of school. The better off kids will probably do ok because the parents fill the gap. But there are 2 years worth underprivileged kids that have been sacrificed for the cause.

[jimfr]

If the students experience any loss of retained learning they were taught incorrectly; even if the loss occurs over a summer.
Reading ability is important for other learning and future status. But how they are evaluated is controversial. They usually do not include reading outside of the classroom, comic books or special interest books. Personally, I had no interest in the stupid stories of Jane/John/spot. On the other hand science/math/encyclodpedias I read all the time.
If the student has no interest in learning, even in the lower grades, they will not learn much. An important thing is to get them interested in school some way.

[matt04]

In CT UConn, with their mandated vaccines and boosters, still has a mask mandate. No other higher ed or K12 school in the state still has any mask mandate.