Studies concluded that student grades dropped significantly since the Pandemic.

Leed’s statement further enforced the idea that the bad habits and distractions “rewired our brains…” and how time on other devices hindered students learning abilities. Multiple teachers have come out saying that students in eighth grade have been performing at a fourth-grade level. This is backed up by studies taken by the National Assessment of Education Progress where they tested nearly half a million fourth through eighth graders before and after the pandemic. It was reported that in 2019 many students were in the proficient pool. While thirty-four percent of these students dropped significantly. Fourth graders even showed declines in forty-one states

“I want to be very clear: The results in today’s nation’s report card are appalling and unacceptable,” Miguel Cardona the U.S Secretary of Education mentioned about the reports of eighth through fourth graders , “These tests are based on the assumption that business as usual was happening during the pandemic, which was clearly not the case…”

These tests show undeniable evidence that time away from an interactive classroom setting contributed to the decline in students' reading, math, and spelling levels. These studies show teachers and students have been impacted by the pandemic, but it is also important to see what role the parents have possibly played in this situation. 

“So there are some ways in which I've seen more parent involvement. Especially when it was 100% virtual, more parents came into than in person, I think we still have a long way to go with how to invite parents in to make sure that it's more than just a quick check-in,” Ian Doreian said about parent attendance at teacher conferences. “It's not just talking with the teacher. Students do more of that. Here's what I'm learning. Here's what, here's how I'm growing. For students to be able to share that with their families. So during my research, I kind of saw the exact opposite.

Doreian’s assessment of the status of parent attendance at conferences was directed toward parents after the peak of the pandemic. They initially lost the ability to have in-depth conversations with their child's teachers. Coupled with the overall distance that teachers would have to assess their students, this could have things like learning disabilities fly under the radar. Along with the proper environment that people with these hindrances need to develop and grow. 

According to the National Library of Medicine “youth with developmental concerns, including learning disorders, (had) reduced access to special education and other support services… The clinical diagnosis of a learning disorder is often a first step toward intervention, but educational disruption during the COVID-19 era has complicated this process.”

These complications can be another one of the root causes of why students are showing a decline. If students with dyslexia are used to measure the same students without it this could sway the percentages. This also answers why some teachers felt as though they were teaching students below their intended grade level when they really could have been teaching students who did not have the necessary resources to help them. Students also lacked social interactions during this time. This is another factor that leads to a decrease in development especially by the younger ages affected by covid.

“Consequently, more than one-third of adolescents reported a high level of loneliness, accordingly correlated with symptoms of depression and social anxiety disorders [12]. A Canadian study revealed that 86% of parents reported their children experiencing a lack of social connections and identified socializing as their top priority for returning to in-person schooling.”

With no form of physical interaction, students went to social media even more than they would have previously. Social media at this time became a major factor in distracting students from their work. Excessive social media presence gave students more comfort with not interacting with one another. So when students did return to in-person school they had shortened attention spans and in some cases social anxiety.

“Excessive social media use can also lead to addiction-like behavior,” The National Library of Medicine stated. “While virtual social interactions through text and social media have been touted as a way to mitigate the impacts of social isolation, researchers agree that these virtual connections cannot fully replace in-person interactions” 

Although its been factually proven that students have been struggling in the past few years now its time to look to the future to move forward and help students to develop. 

"Several states and districts have seen accelerated rates of learning recovery after adopting high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) and aligned professional development; providing high-quality, high-intensity tutoring; and extending the school year through summer or intensive-learning academies.” McKinsley remarked. “A more realistic and sustainable approach may be to embed practices into future budgets. Extending the recovery period from one year to two, providing an additional year of HQIM and aligned professional development for teachers, could address 83% of students with pandemic-related learning delays.”