This week yet another New York Times piece by Harvard and Stanford “experts” warned of the devastating learning loses sustained by American kids due to the pandemic. Click the link and read the piece if you love arcane, statistical analyses and nearly impenetrable pseudo-scientific prose. Or if you need a sleep aid.
You took the words right out of my mouth, Steve! The media is perpetuating the idea that there is some big crisis. The article in the NY Times that I saw said that kids were a half-year behind in reading. I don't think we can call this being "behind" in the first place, since we don't know exactly where these children "should" be. But furthermore, a half year? That is no big deal. The abilities in a classroom always vary widely. Why make a big thing about such a small lag, unless it's to sell something or make a political point. I suspect it's both. It's never about what the kids need.
You took the words right out of my mouth, Steve! The media is perpetuating the idea that there is some big crisis. The article in the NY Times that I saw said that kids were a half-year behind in reading. I don't think we can call this being "behind" in the first place, since we don't know exactly where these children "should" be. But furthermore, a half year? That is no big deal. The abilities in a classroom always vary widely. Why make a big thing about such a small lag, unless it's to sell something or make a political point. I suspect it's both. It's never about what the kids need.