The Impact of COVID-19 on Student Achievement

The year has almost come to its end, and with that, we’ve established one thing: students across the globe experienced major disturbance and inadequacies by missing out on face-to-face learning during the pandemic. All parents are concerned that when the schools eventually open, their children will return with lower achievement, increasing the gap between high and low achieving students. 

The main topic of research in the academic world these days is this: Can we calculate the loss every individual student has experienced during the shortened school year?

There’s no denying that everyone is struggling – teachers are trying to find creative strategies to keep the students engaged and educated. Parents are juggling between their work and parent life. Students are left desolate, filled with anxiety and stress. This anxiety is not restricted to just one thing – they’re anxious about the uncertainty of the situation, the unprecedented consequences, and their future. 

Keeping all these considerations in mind, it can be said that students have lost approximately 70% of their learning gains this year. Mathematics is one of those subjects where students are missing out the most. It is also being realized that students would’ve lost the understanding or the learning gained from their previous term. In normal, face-to-face circumstances, students find it immensely challenging to grasp mathematical concepts. Therefore, to compare this situation to the virtual lessons, the results are unfortunate, to say the least. 

Many researchers have estimated the learning loss keeping the factor of absenteeism in consideration. Thereby, the loss of learning was compared to the effects of absenteeism in school. In addition, homeschooling and online learning were also kept in mind as major variables. The results of absenteeism were obviously the most disappointing. 

Researchers also calculated the gap between high achievers and low achievers during this time. The results would show an immense impact on how teachers show content to students in their classrooms and if they must change their way of teaching. 

Major results acquired from these researches are mentioned as follows:

• Students are substantially behind when it comes to mathematics. What is the solution? There is a possibility that the problem can be managed by gathering teachers at different levels to coordinate and determine individual methods of teaching and instructing. Teachers must also establish new ways to assess the performance of students both formally and informally. This will eventually play a fundamental role in understanding where students stand academically. 

• When the school reopens, it’s possible that they might come back with more variation in their academic skills than they did otherwise. Hence, educators must find a method to provide instructions to every individual. They must decode how every student learns and comprehends information better. Hence, the focus will be shifted to individualized learning. 

• In normal circumstances, students who’re behind in studies during the summer come back with more enthusiasm for learning and display more potential. However, the problem is that the situation may not be the same after COVID-19. And despite all of this, they’ll have more pressure than ever to bounce back and how. This increases the role of educators as they’ll have to find a way to give individual attention and determine the growth rates of individual students. They might even need to set goals separately that will be achievable as well as ambitious. 

During COVID-19, many students turned online assistance to keep up with the overwhelming workload. There was a major trend where students would turn to an affordable essay writing service USA to work on their virtual presentations which were more time consuming than the daily writing assignments. After school reopens, these functional attitudes must be kept in mind for a faster and more effective rebound.