Teachers On Summer Break Recall Students Who ‘Lost Their Resolve’ During The Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic was the ultimate disrupter. Lives around the world were turned upside down, nations struggled to keep their economies afloat while families faced unprecedented turmoil. Yet, one of the most visible and lingering effects of the pandemic has been playing out in classrooms around America.

“I saw students who usually were go-getters totally crack,” said Renita Blake who asked to conceal her identity with a fictitious name because of the scrutiny teachers encountered during the pandemic. “I was counting on them to help the weaker students out, but with the pandemic going on, they just lost their resolve.”

Blake teaches at a school in the South. She and many of her colleagues were anxious about the performance of their students despite their own experience as veteran educators.

When Zoom classes commenced, she was surprised by the difficulties her students faced as they transitioned from in-person learning to distance.

Anita Alexander (name has also been changed at her request) teaches calculus and recalls witnessing similar results among her students.

“To teach calculus is already a difficult thing to teach and learn under normal circumstances,” she said. “Now imagine you’re in a group Zoom class, and you lose your ability to track your students’ progress in real time. There’s a reason why now people have the choice, no one wants to return to this format.”

In 2020 more than 180 countries made the decision to lock down their countries and continue their academic year via online instruction.  In many countries where Wi-Fi isn’t readily available, students dropped out of school or attendance declined significantly. I

In the United States and other more advanced countries, it necessitated a new and novel way of learning. For some, this was easy and interesting. They could have class while remaining in their bedroom and their pajamas.

For more the more affluent, there were seemingly fewer obstacles to learning this way. But in underserved communities, online instruction exacerbated preexisting gaps in education. The results are in, and numerous studies prove that distance learning overall had a negative impact on most students with poor, young Black and Latinx students suffering the worse.

Some are proclaiming COVID and the subsequent lockdowns created a lost generation. Experts describe it as a generation so far behind that despite modern advances such as the internet, students may never achieve the academic accomplishments of their parents.  

“You have to understand,” said Blake, “these kids were scared. Some of them were catching COVID. Some of them had families who got COVID. It was a stressful situation for everyone.” 

Education experts say the task now that lockdowns have ended is to invest resources to help those left behind during the height of the pandemic, declaring it in the national interest to close the gaps in education. If the wealth gap between Blacks and whites will ever close, we must first close gaps in education. COVID has made this problem even more challenging, but it can be resolved. There are some formidable odds, but African Americans have faced worse and overcome.