Back to School: Parents and Teachers Say Overcoming Learning Loss is the Biggest Hurdle of the School Year

Survey Finds Parents and Teachers Differ on When and Whether the Learning Gap Can Be Closed This Year.

News provided by

Aug 18, 2021, 13:00 ET

BOSTON, Aug. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Lexia Learning, a Cambium Learning^® Group company, shared findings from a survey of 1,000 parents and teachers on perspectives for the upcoming school year. In it, they found that the pandemic-created learning gap poses a major concern, yet parents and teachers differ on when and whether the learning gap can be closed.

The survey found that the majority of parents and teachers anticipate that overcoming learning loss caused by the pandemic will be the biggest hurdle in the 2021-2022 school year (48% and 58%, respectively). The majority of parents and teachers (79%) also believe that children are about half a school year or more behind in learning.

When it comes to academic recovery efforts, 77% of parents are confident that their child's school will be able to close the learning gap – however, only 56% of teachers are confident they will be able to do so, and 31% are unsure. Parents in lower income brackets express much lower confidence levels in schools' abilities to close the learning gap versus parents in higher income brackets. Parents and teachers disagree on how long it will take to close the learning gap, with most parents (34%) believing it will take 3-6 months and most teachers (28%) believing it will take 6-9 months.

The survey also explored how teachers are planning to use technology after a year of accelerated digital transformation in schools. It found that 72% of teachers anticipate using technology either the same amount or more in the upcoming year compared to pre-pandemic use. However, less than a third of teachers believe they "definitely" have the technology necessary to accelerate learning in the 2021-2022 school year.

"At Lexia, we had heard from educators that they were concerned for students' preparedness for grade-level content, with many expressing uncertainty that they would be able to find enough time to balance remediation with grade-level instruction," said Nick Gaehde, President, Lexia Learning. "This upcoming school year will require patience, ongoing instruction and assessment and improved technology to help students overcome the impact of the past 1.5 years of interrupted learning."

Other survey findings include:

91% of respondents living in an urban area believe that a learning gap has occurred, compared to 81% of those living in a rural area. Rural parents are also more likely to believe that their child did not experience any learning gap (17%), compared to parents in other communities.
According to teachers, students who have the least amount of learning loss can be attributed to parents who were able to dedicate time to children's learning during the pandemic (72%).
Elementary school teachers are predominantly optimistic about learning recovery (55%); however middle school teachers rank worry and skepticism (40% each) before optimism (38%). Middle school teachers are also the most likely teacher group to cite overcoming stress and fatigue (59%) as one of the biggest hurdles they anticipate in the 2021-2022 school year.
When it comes to resources for closing the learning gap, 54% of teachers say traditional resources such as tutoring or study groups would help them feel better equipped, followed by online resources that offer personalized learning opportunities and real-time learning performance data and assessment tools (48% and 47% respectively).
In addition to overcoming learning loss, half of surveyed teachers cite overcoming stress and fatigue, followed by integrating back into the classroom (49%) and determining where students should be performing academically (47%) as their biggest hurdles this school year.

Methodology
Lexia Learning surveyed 500 parents of children aged 3-18 and 500 U.S. teachers who teach preschool, elementary school, middle school or high school in July 2021. The survey was fielded using the Qualtrics Insight Platform, and the panel was sourced from Lucid.

About Lexia Learning

Lexia Learning, a Cambium Learning^® Group company, is the structured literacy expert. For over 35 years, the company has focused solely on literacy, and today, provides a full spectrum of solutions for both students and teachers. With robust offerings for differentiated instruction, personalized learning, assessment, and professional learning, Lexia helps more learners read, write, and speak with confidence. For more information, visit http://www.lexialearning.com/.

About Cambium Learning Group

Cambium Learning^® Group is the education essentials company, providing award-winning education technology and services for K-12 markets. With an intentionally curated portfolio of respected global brands, Cambium serves as a leader in the education space, helping millions of educators and students feel more universally valued every day. In everything it does, the company focuses on the elements that are most essential to the success of education, delivering simpler, more certain solutions that make a meaningful difference right now. To learn more, visit http://www.cambiumlearning.com/ or follow Cambium on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Medium. The Cambium family of companies includes: Cambium Assessment, Lexia^® Learning, Learning A-Z^®, Voyager Sopris Learning^®, ExploreLearning^®, Time4Learning^®, and Kurzweil Education^®.