Three Years after Pandemic, Students Still Far Behind
2023-12-27
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1In the third full school year since the COVID-19 pandemic began, students continued to feel the effects of school closures.
2Some leading experts and education officials worry that the learning loss caused by the pandemic may be long-term.
3Making matters worse, many students are missing school.
4Chronic absenteeism is becoming more common at school districts around the country.
5Some students went missing from the attendance rolls during the pandemic and have never been accounted for.
6And in a year of growing artificial intelligence technology, AI has also entered the classroom.
7Some schools have banned the use of chatbots like ChatGPT.
8Other teachers are using the new technology to help students, hoping they use the technology in appropriate ways.
9Here is a look at the big issues that shaped education in 2023 and will shape education in the year to come.
10In June, the U.S. Department of Education released the scores from a national math and reading test that is given to 13-year-olds.
11About 8,700 students took the test in both math and reading in late 2022.
12The results showed a drop of nine points in math and four points in reading compared to 2020, the last year the test was administered.
13The department's information shows that those are the largest point decreases between tests recorded since 1973.
14The test asks students to read short passages and identify the main idea or some facts.
15In math, students had to answer simple multiplication and geometry questions.
16The latest test scores show that American 13-year-old students are back to their lowest level in math since 1990 and lowest reading level since 2004.
17Math and Reading scores were no better outside the U.S. Students around the world suffered historic setbacks in reading and math.
18That information comes from results of the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).
19The PISA is an international comparative study of the scores of 15-year-old students on tests in reading, math and science.
20It is administered by OECD. Nearly 700,000 students worldwide took part in the study.
21PISA is given every three years.
22The latest results showed an "unprecedented drop in performance" since 2018.
23The 2022 results were released on December 5.
24It is the first extensive study with data on how the pandemic has affected student performance around the world.
25The COVID-19 pandemic was a major reason for the worldwide score drops.
26But science and reading scores were dropping even before the pandemic.
27This suggests there are other reasons for the decrease.
28Factors such as the level of investment in education, the social value and pay levels of teachers, and educational beliefs of students have all influenced educational results, OECD found.
29Students are not going to make gains in learning if they miss school.
30Education officials and activists are concerned about an increase in the number of students who are absent for many days during the school year.
31Education policy experts call the problem "chronic absenteeism."
32Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing more than 10 percent out of the days in a school year.
33There are many reasons why students miss a lot of school. Certain physical problems and mental health problems, which have increased since the pandemic, are possible causes.
34Certain community conditions also can affect attendance, says Joshua Childs, a professor of education policy at the University of Texas at Austin.
35These include whether a student has safe transportation to and from school and whether the school itself is a safe environment.
36Childs added that if families do not feel connected with the school community or do not value education that can add to absenteeism.
37Hundreds of thousands of American students have also dropped out of public schools since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
38They have essentially gone missing from schools.
39A recent examination found an estimated 240,000 students in 21 states whose absences from school could not be explained.
40These students did not move out of state.
41They also did not sign up for private school or home-school.
42The issue of missing students received a lot of attention in 2020 after the pandemic closed schools around the country.
43In the years since, however, the issue has largely become a budgeting problem.
44There is no longer urgency to find the students who disappeared from school.
45Early in the pandemic, school workers would go to the students' homes to try and help them return to the classroom. Most of those efforts have ended.
46The COVID-19 pandemic showed how useful digital technology could be for schools.
47But it also showed the limitations of technology in the educational setting.
48Millions of students were able to attend classes online and avoid spreading the virus.
49But many students failed to learn by such methods.
50The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( or UNESCO) argues against unsupervised wide use of digital tools and AI in education.
51A recent UNESCO report says there is little evidence that wide technology use improves learning.
52The organization says digital educational tools can never replace the human connection of teacher and student.
53There is a very large divide, or gap, between rich and poor countries when it comes to digital resources
54"Even if connectivity was universal, it would still be necessary to demonstrate ...that digital technology offers real added value in terms of effective learning," the UNESCO report says.
55Many educators fear students will use the AI tool ChatGPT to write their reports or cheat on homework.
56New York City school officials started blocking the writing tool on school devices and networks in January.
57But other teachers are including it in the classroom.
58Donnie Piercey is a teacher in Lexington, Kentucky.
59He told his fifth-grade students to try and outsmart the tool that was creating writing assignments.
60Piercey says his job is to prepare students for a world where knowledge of AI will be required.
61He describes ChatGPT as just the latest technology in his 17 years of teaching that raised concerns about the possibility of cheating.
62Other tools include Google, Wikipedia and YouTube.
63"As educators, we haven't figured out the best way to use artificial intelligence yet," he added.
64"But it's coming, whether we want it to or not."
65I'm Dan Novak.
66And I'm Anna Matteo.
1In the third full school year since the COVID-19 pandemic began, students continued to feel the effects of school closures. Some leading experts and education officials worry that the learning loss caused by the pandemic may be long-term. 2Making matters worse, many students are missing school. Chronic absenteeism is becoming more common at school districts around the country. Some students went missing from the attendance rolls during the pandemic and have never been accounted for. 3And in a year of growing artificial intelligence technology, AI has also entered the classroom. Some schools have banned the use of chatbots like ChatGPT. Other teachers are using the new technology to help students, hoping they use the technology in appropriate ways. 4Here is a look at the big issues that shaped education in 2023 and will shape education in the year to come. 5Continued learning loss 6In June, the U.S. Department of Education released the scores from a national math and reading test that is given to 13-year-olds. About 8,700 students took the test in both math and reading in late 2022. 7The results showed a drop of nine points in math and four points in reading compared to 2020, the last year the test was administered. The department's information shows that those are the largest point decreases between tests recorded since 1973. 8The test asks students to read short passages and identify the main idea or some facts. In math, students had to answer simple multiplication and geometry questions. 9The latest test scores show that American 13-year-old students are back to their lowest level in math since 1990 and lowest reading level since 2004. 10Math and Reading scores were no better outside the U.S. Students around the world suffered historic setbacks in reading and math. That information comes from results of the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). 11The PISA is an international comparative study of the scores of 15-year-old students on tests in reading, math and science. It is administered by OECD. Nearly 700,000 students worldwide took part in the study. 12PISA is given every three years. The latest results showed an "unprecedented drop in performance" since 2018. The 2022 results were released on December 5. It is the first extensive study with data on how the pandemic has affected student performance around the world. 13The COVID-19 pandemic was a major reason for the worldwide score drops. But science and reading scores were dropping even before the pandemic. This suggests there are other reasons for the decrease. 14Factors such as the level of investment in education, the social value and pay levels of teachers, and educational beliefs of students have all influenced educational results, OECD found. 15Absent, missing students 16Students are not going to make gains in learning if they miss school. Education officials and activists are concerned about an increase in the number of students who are absent for many days during the school year. 17Education policy experts call the problem "chronic absenteeism." Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing more than 10 percent out of the days in a school year. 18There are many reasons why students miss a lot of school. Certain physical problems and mental health problems, which have increased since the pandemic, are possible causes. 19Certain community conditions also can affect attendance, says Joshua Childs, a professor of education policy at the University of Texas at Austin. These include whether a student has safe transportation to and from school and whether the school itself is a safe environment. Childs added that if families do not feel connected with the school community or do not value education that can add to absenteeism. 20Hundreds of thousands of American students have also dropped out of public schools since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have essentially gone missing from schools. 21A recent examination found an estimated 240,000 students in 21 states whose absences from school could not be explained. These students did not move out of state. They also did not sign up for private school or home-school. 22The issue of missing students received a lot of attention in 2020 after the pandemic closed schools around the country. In the years since, however, the issue has largely become a budgeting problem. 23There is no longer urgency to find the students who disappeared from school. Early in the pandemic, school workers would go to the students' homes to try and help them return to the classroom. Most of those efforts have ended. 24Changing technology 25The COVID-19 pandemic showed how useful digital technology could be for schools. But it also showed the limitations of technology in the educational setting. Millions of students were able to attend classes online and avoid spreading the virus. But many students failed to learn by such methods. 26The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( or UNESCO) argues against unsupervised wide use of digital tools and AI in education. A recent UNESCO report says there is little evidence that wide technology use improves learning. 27The organization says digital educational tools can never replace the human connection of teacher and student. There is a very large divide, or gap, between rich and poor countries when it comes to digital resources 28"Even if connectivity was universal, it would still be necessary to demonstrate ...that digital technology offers real added value in terms of effective learning," the UNESCO report says. 29Many educators fear students will use the AI tool ChatGPT to write their reports or cheat on homework. New York City school officials started blocking the writing tool on school devices and networks in January. But other teachers are including it in the classroom. 30Donnie Piercey is a teacher in Lexington, Kentucky. He told his fifth-grade students to try and outsmart the tool that was creating writing assignments. Piercey says his job is to prepare students for a world where knowledge of AI will be required. 31He describes ChatGPT as just the latest technology in his 17 years of teaching that raised concerns about the possibility of cheating. Other tools include Google, Wikipedia and YouTube. 32"As educators, we haven't figured out the best way to use artificial intelligence yet," he added. "But it's coming, whether we want it to or not." 33I'm Dan Novak. 34And I'm Anna Matteo. 35Dan Novak wrote this story for VOA Learning English. 36________________________________________________ 37Words in This Story 38chronic - adj. continuing or occurring again and again for a long time 39absent - adj. not present at a usual or expected place 40district - n. an area established by a government for official government business 41appropriate - adj. right or suited for some purpose or situation 42passage - adj. a usually short section of a book, poem, speech, etc. 43unprecedented - adj. not done or experienced before 44access - n. a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone 45universal - adj. done or experienced by everyone 46cheat - v. to break a rule or law usually to gain an advantage at something 47assignment - n. a job or duty that is given to someone : a task someone is required to do 48figure - v. to understand or find by thinking