The pandemic wake-up call for schools
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 25 October 2022
⏱️ 19 minutes
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Summary
What data from the “nation’s report card” shows about how students progressed during the pandemic — and why people like Education Secretary Miguel Cardona are calling the results “appalling and unacceptable.”
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This week the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the “nation’s report card,” was released for the first time since 2019. Widely considered to be the most comprehensive look at how students are progressing academically, it showed that during the pandemic students across the country fell behind dramatically in math and reading. Education reporter Laura Meckler reports on what the data means and what educators and parents can do to counteract the learning loss.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, it's Martin. |
| 0:04.3 | Thank you so much for listening to Post Reports. |
| 0:06.7 | My new co-host, Eli is Adi and I love bringing you stories from around the newsroom. |
| 0:11.6 | But we also love reporting her own stories. |
| 0:14.0 | And right now, I'm working on something that I can't wait for you to hear. |
| 0:17.7 | While I'm out reporting, you're going to be hearing from some of my colleagues who are |
| 0:20.6 | filling in as guest hosts, along with Eli. |
| 0:24.3 | I'll be back at the end of the month. |
| 0:26.0 | In the meantime, today you'll be hearing from our wonderful guest host, Colnist Jerry |
| 0:30.4 | Brewer. |
| 0:31.4 | Enjoy the show. |
| 0:33.8 | The Lost Generation. |
| 0:36.0 | Ever since the pandemic began, we kept hearing that phrase, describing students whose education |
| 0:42.2 | was upended and who slipped behind in school. |
| 0:49.4 | I wondered if my own kids would be part of that Lost Generation. |
| 0:53.2 | My oldest was in the second grade when he went back to in-person school for the first |
| 0:57.7 | time. |
| 0:59.0 | That was the spring of 2021. |
| 1:02.6 | I'll never forget dropping him off, watching him take that long walk from our car back into |
| 1:07.9 | the school building. |
| 1:09.0 | I remember crying. |
| 1:11.4 | I didn't know what I was sending my child back into. |
... |
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