COVID-19’s Impact on Education

Now that the pandemic is over, toddlers are struggling in school.

“They can’t hold pencils, communicate their needs, or work with peers. Some aren’t potty-trained, and others can’t regulate their emotions.”

In March 2020, families all across the U.S. were told to remain in their houses at all times except during “essential” activities. This change affected most areas of our daily lives, from online shopping to social distancing and masks. However, perhaps one of the biggest effects of the pandemic was the impact on toddlers’ learning and development.  How bad is it, and can they catch up?

The students that were most heavily affected were the ones who were only babies when the pandemic hit. Now that they’re in school, they’re struggling developmentally and academically. They can’t hold pencils, communicate their needs, or work with peers. Some aren’t potty-trained, and others can’t regulate their emotions. Tommy Sheridan, the deputy director of the National Head Start Association, says, “We are talking about 4- and 5-year olds who are throwing chairs, biting, hitting, without the self-regulation.” Several students can’t even stay still. David Feldman, a kindergarten teacher in Florida, reported, “I spent a long time just teaching kids to sit still on the carpet for one book. That’s something I didn’t need to do before.”  

But why are little kids impacted the most? Experts explain that early years are vital for brain development, but there are other reasons as well. 

Parental stress is one big factor. As parents worried about their children during the pandemic, they activated parts of their brain related to fear and aggression. This left less energy for learning and exploration.

Kids were also exposed to less communication between adults since everyone was locked down. They heard less language, which deprived kids of communication practice. Kids did not play with others as much, leading to less core strength and social skills. The lockdown also caused an increase of screen time, leading to lessened attention spans and less fine motor skills. Sarrah Hovis, a preschool teacher from Michigan, adds, “They don’t have the muscle strength because everything they are doing at home is screen time. They are just swiping.”

This is not good news, both for younger and older students. For younger students, social, motor, emotional, and communication skills are the most important thing to learn. Some kids who solved many puzzles and read loads of  books were struggling because of their social skills and separation anxiety. Without these basic skills, kids will struggle throughout their whole lives, as they cannot communicate with others or control their emotions. 

For older students, their test scores were worrying. In California, all grades performed worse than pre-pandemic students in ELA, but 3rd grade was the worst. A study from the Annie E. Casey Foundation showed that literacy by 3rd grade is the “gateway to success.” In math, all grades performed worse than average, but 8th grade was the worst.

If they do not have a good understanding of these concepts, they can’t succeed in high school courses and can’t pursue a STEM career. What is even worse is the fact that the students that are struggling the most are making the least progress.

Despite all this, progress is being made. 122 billion dollars has been given by federal aid to help students catch up, and individual states are trying to help as well. A district in Tennessee is adding teaching assistants in kindergarten classrooms, and Oregon is starting a program to prepare kids for kindergarten. In California, there have been discussions to help teachers recognize the best strategies for improvement: addressing students’ concerns, making students learn instead of memorizing, and teaching a few concepts in detail rather than teaching many of them at a basic level.

With so many people trying to help this cause, we can help students catch up, especially if we start implementing solutions early.

Works Cited

Miller, Claire. Mervosh, Sarah. “The Youngest Pandemic Children Are Now in School, and Struggling.”  The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/07/01/upshot/pandemic-children-school-performance.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GE4.sM_9.DquOBz2Nmdji&smid=url-share.

Hough, Heather. Chavez, Belen. “California Test Scores Show the Devastating Impact of the Pandemic on Student Learning.” Policy Analysis for California Education, https://edpolicyinca.org/newsroom/california-test-scores-show-devastating-impact-pandemic-student-learning.

Seshadri, Mallika. “Boosting student success after Covid is a team effort, panel says.” Edsource, https://edsource.org/2023/boosting-student-success-after-covid-is-a-team-effort-panel-says/700839#:~:text=One%20strategy%20to%20help%20students,tutoring%20also%20helps%2C%20Hough%20said.