1. “The pandemic slide”
This is what some are calling the months of learning students lost during the pandemic. Georgia school districts received unprecedented amounts of money through federal relief programs, at least 20% of which is supposed to directly address learning loss. School districts have invested in extra tutoring and summer programs to help close the gap. Atlanta Public Schools has extended the school day by 30 minutes to provide additional instruction. Dr. Tim Sass, the director of Georgia State University’s Metro Atlanta Policy Lab for Education, says schools should focus on high-dosage tutoring while students are in school, since fewer students participate in summer programs.
“We have a report looking at a summer school from one of the metro districts and the big problem was that students just didn’t show up,” he says. “Less than 20% of students invited to summer school, where those invitations were based on the fact that their achievement levels were at least a grade level behind, didn’t go.”
Several metro Atlanta districts have invested in high-dosage tutoring during the school day. Some have also built in intervention periods to help kids catch up. Federal aid runs out after the 2023-24 school year, so districts don’t have a lot of time left to make use of the money.
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