Gambrel 1

Alyssa Gambrel

ENG 1201

Professor Cassel

December 10, 2021

Literature Review

School districts monitor learning within their schools based on standardized

testing. As a mother of two elementary aged students, I saw firsthand the affects and struggle

remote learning had on my children. So, my question is how much learning was lost during the

pandemic in elementary schools? Did this shut down affect student demographics over another?

How long will this learning loss last?

When schools across the state closed their doors in the Spring of the 2019-2020 school

year, this left students with unfinished learning. According to McKinsey and Company article

when students returned in the Fall of 2020, they were averaging five months behind in math and

four months behind in reading. With the start of the 2020 school year, only forty percent of K-12

schools had in person learning. Schools with in person learning increased to 98 percent by the

end of the year. (Covid-19 and Education: The Lingering Effects of Unfinished Learning.”

McKinsey & Company, McKinsey & Company, 11 Nov. 2021).

With the inability to have in person learning during the school shut down, a lot of

students were forced to do online learning. Many households had limited access to the internet as

well not having access to devices for their students to learn. Those who were able to do school

remotely often struggles to concentrate on their tasks. According to a study 65.9 percent of those
 Gambrel 2

who had to remote learn had a difficult time focusing. (The Impact of Covid 19 Pandemic on

Effective Learning - Sharing a Developing Country’s Experience). This lack of access to internet

and devices as well as the inability to concentrate during remote learning are some of the many

factors that has led to the learning loss.

The increase in absenteeism within the schools after returning to in person learning

increased. Schools’ illness policies had to adapt to the virus causing families and students to

quarantine for long periods of time, resulting in missed classroom instruction. Chronic absence is

defined as 18 or more days not engaged in education activities. Prior to the pandemic, in Ohio

16.7 percent of students were chronically absent during the 2018-2019 school year. For the 2020-

2021 school year absences had increased to 24 percent according to the Ohio States Educational

Report Card.

The United States was not the only place where learning loss took place. In South Africa

significant learning gaps took place as well. Between first through fourth grade there was seen to

be a 50-81 percent loss in reading. Due to the large number of countries who were affected by

covid and result in school closures the Global Learning Loss Assessment Act of 2021 was

passed. This bill requires the U.S Agency for international Development to report on the impact

of covid on their basic education programs.

Studies have along begun projecting the effect of the pandemic and learning disruption.

The social Genome Model is one of the studies to estimate the learning loss long terms effects.

These studies show the income loss this generation will see in later in life due to the school

closures across 188 countries. This study uses the estimation of three months of learning loss for

their model. This could be overestimating, or underestimating based on the three million students
 Gambrel 3

who were affected by this pandemic as each school, city, demographics, and country have

different results in their learning loss.

 Gambrel 4

Work Cited

Ardington, Cally, et al. “COVID-19 Learning Losses: Early Grade Reading in South

Africa.” International Journal of Educational Development, vol. 86, Oct. 2021, p.

N.PAG. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102480.

Bilal, Muhammad Asif, et al. “The Impact of Covid 19 Pandemic on Effective Learning -

Sharing a Developing Country’s Experience.” Pakistan Journal of Radiology, vol. 31, no.

4, Oct. 2021, pp. 232–237. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=153645082&site=ehost-live.

Blagg, Kristin. “The Effect of Covid-19 Learning Loss on Adult Outcomes.” Urban Institute, Feb.

2021, www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/103549/the-effect-of-covid-19-

learning-loss-on-adult-outcomes.pdf.

Collinson, Rita Perakis and Erin. “US Congress Raises Alarm on Global Learning Loss and

Inequality.” Center For Global Development, 23 Nov. 2021, www.cgdev.org/blog/us-

congress-raises-alarm-global-learning-loss-and-inequality.

Dorn, Emma, et al. “Covid-19 and Education: The Lingering Effects of Unfinished Learning.”

McKinsey & Company, McKinsey & Company, 11 Nov. 2021,

www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/covid-19-and-education-the-

lingering-effects-of-unfinished-learning#:~:text=Our%20analysis%20shows%20that

%20the,end%20of%20the%20school%20year.
Gambrel 5