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The report highlights the mismatch between grades, real learning, and attendance, arguing for supports beyond letter grades and for clearer, more realistic performance signals.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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did pandemic-era learning loss and absenteeism affect students academically?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Students lost significant learning time and are missing school at record rates, contributing to lower achievement and growing risk of falling further behind.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What did the two districts’ analysis show about grades versus performance?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Between 2018-19 and 2021-22, achievement fell and chronic absenteeism surged, yet many students still earned the same grades—or better—than in 2019, including students who were both behind and chronically absent.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Why can letter grades mislead families during and after the pandemic?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Grades may reflect more than academic performance, including participation and effort, while remote and irregular attendance can reduce the very behaviors tied to earning higher marks, leaving families with inaccurate 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\nIntroduction  \nSchools everywhere are grappling with the lasting legacies of the pandemic: students lost valuable learning time and are still missing school at high rates. Educators, working overtime to help students catch up, are feeling the strain of these twin challenges.  \nYoung people are still behind academically.  \nDuring the pandemic, the average U. S. public school student lost the equivalent of half a year of learning in math anda quarter of a year in reading on state tests. i Most estimates indicate that young people have not changed their learning trajectory enough to catch up to where they were pre-pandemic. This unfinished learning could cost the average American student upwards of $70,000 in lifetime earnings. ii  \nAt the same time, students are missing school more than ever.  \nIn 2023, student absenteeism is at an all-time high. Chronic absenteeism—missing at least 10 percent of the school year—has increased in every state since 2019, sometimes doubling or even tripling its pre-pandemic rate.iii This is deeply concerning. Students who miss more days at school have lower academic achievement iv and are more likely to drop out of high school.v Significant absenteeism now affects more than one in four American [children.](children.vi)[vi](children.vi)  \nYet most families report only modest concern about missed learning.  \nThey believe that pandemic-era challenges are largely past and that their kids are already on grade level or will catchup soon.vii How can educators and families have such a different read of the same situation?  \nWe wondered if some of the disconnect was due to grades, families’ most trusted signal of student performance at school. In national surveys of families by Learning Heroes, more than 8 in 10 say that their child gets all Bs or above—a finding that remained virtually unchanged throughout the pandemic.viii Most families equate letter grades with grade levelix and see Bs as a sign that their kids are on track.  \nIf grades are meant to communicate a child’s overall educational standing, they should respond to changes in learning and school attendance. But have they? We set out to understand the link between attendance, learning, and grades—and the critical signals those grades are sending to families.  \nExecutive Summary  \nTo understand the extent of this disconnect, our three organizations—all of whom have published separately on the messages that grades send to young people and their families—partnered with two public school districts to analyze the pandemic’s effect on student absences, learning, and grades. We were particularly interested in students who are both chronically absent and behind academically, as they and their families are most in need of clear signals so they can support their children to correct course.  \nHere’s what we found. In both districts, between 2018-19 and 2021-22:  \n• Student achievement fell. The average student is five months further behind in math and English Language Arts (ELA) .  \n• Chronic absenteeism skyrocketed. Students are missing one to two more weeks of school, on average.  \n• Yet most students still earned the same grade—or better—in 2022 as they did in 2019.  \n• The number of students not yet on grade level and chronically absent quadrupled. Yet more than 40 percent of these students still earn Bs or better in core subjects.  \nIn other words, grades are sending signals that students are doing well at a time when there is serious reason for concern. Before the pandemic, it was relatively rare for students to be both not yet on grade level and chronically  \nabsent. Even if kids were behind, they were in class. But now, absences are compounding a performance challenge—and many families are unaware there’s an issue.  \nEducators aren’t intentionally trying to mislead families. Assessing learning was extra challenging during remote schooling, and grades reflect more","cbCaikWqVkxJMFkQ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikWqVkxJMFkQ","pdf",658374,"English","# Introduction\n# Executive Summary\n# Methodology","[{\"question\":\"How did pandemic-era learning loss and absenteeism affect students academically?\",\"answer\":\"Students lost significant learning time and are missing school at record rates, contributing to lower achievement and growing risk of falling further behind.\"},{\"question\":\"What did the two districts’ analysis show about grades versus performance?\",\"answer\":\"Between 2018-19 and 2021-22, achievement fell and chronic absenteeism surged, yet many students still earned the same grades—or better—than in 2019, including students who were both behind and chronically absent.\"},{\"question\":\"Why can letter grades mislead families during and after the pandemic?\",\"answer\":\"Grades may reflect more than academic performance, including participation and effort, while remote and irregular attendance can reduce the very behaviors tied to earning higher marks, leaving families with inaccurate signals.\"}]","FALSE SIGNALS - How Pandemic-Era Grades Mislead Families and Threaten Student Learning | PDF",1792062610,25]