Did San Diego Students Suffer a Learning Loss During the Pandemic? Hard to Say

With students back in school, the focus on making up for lost time during the pandemic is high on the priority list. But determining how much students in San Diego County suffered academically from the pandemic’s disruption in schools is hard to quantify.

“We know that everyone was impacted by the pandemic but just how much is really hard to quantify,” said the Director of Curriculum and Instruction at the San Diego County Office of Education, Audrey Mendivil. “Students didn’t stop learning during the pandemic or since, but what they learned and how they measured it changed a lot.”  

Mendivil said the state test students take every year were put on pause and other assessments shortened and assessed different measures . “So, we don’t have successive years on all those pieces of evidence.” Mendivil said. "Trying to compare our old systems to what we were doing before the pandemic to what we are doing now ... (is like) "we are trying to compare apples to oranges."

But a look at research from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a nonprofit testing group that works with districts across the nation, sheds light on learning loss. “I think what we found this year was a real mixed bag,” said NWEA research scientist Megan Kuhfeld. “We saw some evidence of both good news and bad news.”

The research looked at students grades three through eight and compared the results of the assessment, Measures of Academic Progress, also known by its acronym MAP assessment, from before the pandemic in 2019 and during the pandemic.  “The good news is we found evidence of rebounding, so students were making gains kind of at or above typical rates,” said Kuhfeld, who said elementary school students rebounded at a faster rate, whereas middle school students seemed to be "pretty stagnant."  “The bad news is that at the pace we’re going, it’s still going to take multiple years for students to recover,” said Kuhfeld.

Anecdotal evidence in San Diego suggests learning loss is real. “School psychologist Angelica Mora-Sanchez said, “That is my biggest concern, learning loss in children and the motivation to come back and come back strong.”  Montessorri specialist and consultant Irina Isaeva said. “ We definitely notice the learning loss, speech delay in toddlers' development.”  High School teacher Monica Rodriguez said “I feel like I’m going to need to play catch up because I feel the last few years have been a blur for many of us.”

Mendivil said districts are now using other assessments and surveying students and families, asking what do they need socially, emotionally, and academically, and "addressing the needs as students walk in the door."  Mendivil said, “We know you learned stuff, what is the stuff you learned? Let’s build from there and move forward as opposed to spending a lot of time trying to investigate a deficit mindset around what isn't there that used to be there.”

The Superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District Lamont Jackson said among the priorities this year is to extend academic and enrichment programs for students during and after school. The state has provided $8 billion dollars to tackle learning loss, with literacy intervention programs, after school programs, individualized  tutoring, programs offering social and emotional support.  “We will deal with learning loss as we look at each individual student and what they need,” said Jackson.

Overall Mendivil said, there’s been a shift in where people are putting their attention, shifting away from measuring students to some “mythical average,” and instead looking at each child more holistically, focusing also on mental health and wellness.

“I think people are starting to realize test scores are not everything, they’re a great measurement tool. It’s valuable to look at them,  but that’s not the whole story,” said Mendivil.  It’s an optimistic stance for our society and our children and if there is a silver lining to the pandemic, perhaps this is it.”