Just about everybody agrees that the school closures resulting from COVID-19 will lead to some student “learning loss” and that the loss will affect students differently depending on their social advantages, the effectiveness of their schools, and their degree of trauma.

Researchers have tried to predict the magnitude of pandemic-related learning loss by making comparisons with what happens when students are out of school in the summer. Recent work by researchers at NWEA, a nonprofit provider of student assessments, estimated that students would end this school year with only about 40 percent to 60 percent of the learning gains they’d see in a typical year.

On May 12, former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam announced the Tennessee Tutoring Corps, a program that will pair college students with schoolchildren this summer to reduce COVID-19 learning loss. We applaud this effort to address the economic and educational crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The need to support struggling students is acute. So is the need for job opportunities among college students and recent graduates. Moreover, Haslam is funding this initiative personally.

This study quantifies the relationship between school closure timing and COVID-19 deaths and cases in the general population in all U.S. states. COVID-19 has higher symptomatic infection rates among the elderly, suggesting school closures could be unrelated to transmission. However, predicting daily cumulative COVID-19 deaths by state, earlier school closure is related to fewer deaths per capita and slower growth in deaths per capita. Results are similar for COVID-19 cases per capita.

To encourage the use of common measures, we must begin by identifying the best measures already in wide use. We are pursuing this in several ways. First, we are searching the What Works Clearinghouse to identify the measures most often found in studies catalogued in its large library. Second, we are identifying the measures that are widely used across the close to 2,000 research grants we have funded over the years. Third, we are forming a panel of experts to help identify a set of common metrics defined by grade/subject band (for example, early reading, middle school algebra). Fourth, we are closely following Susanna Loeb's work at EdInstruments.com and looking for other compendia similar to her growing library of metrics. Finally, we will be soliciting input from the field (including your responses to this post) about how to proceed.

With the United States suddenly in a recession, school districts will be thinking seriously about reducing their teaching workforces. On average, salaries account for about 80 percent of district spending, so layoffs may be an inevitable step when budgets must be cut.

For many, budget crises and potential layoffs may feel all too familiar. The long and severe 2008 recession led many districts to let teachers go. Even more teachers received a reduction-in-force or RIF notice—an advance warning issued to teachers whose jobs are at risk. Two federally funded district bailouts helped districts rescind many of the RIF notices, but still, one estimate indicated nearly 300,000 school employees lost their jobs.

As director of the Annenberg Institute at Brown, Loeb leads a major hub for interdisciplinary education scholarship and its translation into policy and practice, building on the institute’s past work in addressing the causes and consequences of educational inequality in the U.S. Her own research specializes in education policy and the relationship between educational opportunities for students and federal, state and local policies. 

“I am so honored by this recognition, not only of my research but of the importance of trying to get better answers to education policy questions so that we can provide better opportunities for students — particularly for those students who need them the most,” she said of her election to the academy.

But a distinction persists, in both qualifications and job security, between those working at the front of the class and those standing behind the lunch counter. Susanna Loeb, an economist at Brown University, said that “classified” employees (i.e., those who can do their jobs with no professional certification) are more at risk of losing their jobs during times of economic hardship.

“When you look at the protections that are offered, you’ll see that the education workforce that is more white and educated has stronger protections than the one that is more racially diverse and less educated,” she said. “If we’re in a situation where those employees lose their jobs, for example, this is going to be affecting a part of the population that doesn’t have as great skills to find other jobs.”

Descriptive analyses using April 7 data. I find states that ordered schools closed earlier have fewer COVID-19 cases. The graph shows state cases by days from first 100 cases until state-ordered school closure. @AnnenbergInst @PSTC_Brown @BrownSociology https://t.co/jaMET7ikE2

— Emily Rauscher (@rauscher_emily) April 10, 2020

Leaders must consider unequal opportunities and stress on families

With the COVID-19 school closures, districts and schools are relying on parents to carry out educational activities in their homes. How can districts help parents make the most of this learning time? And are there alternatives to parents as surrogate teachers?