Lessons Learned: The best ways to catch children up and move ahead

We now know the enormous toll the pandemic’s months of school closures, economic stress, illness and death had on children and their families.

Children lost months of in-person instruction and millions struggled to stay on track in their classes. Many failed and some disappeared completely. Trauma and stress were as much of a barrier to learning as a lack of internet access, and educators recognized that addressing children’s mental health would be essential for getting school back to normal.

Fortunately, research and experience tell us what’s most likely to work to help children catch up and move ahead.

YOUR STORIES

At the beginning of 2021, The Hechinger Report’s members (individual readers who donated money to our nonprofit news organization) asked us if we would report on the best practices for helping the nation’s public school system recover from the pandemic.

So, we’ve spent several months traveling the country learning from schools applying best practices and from researchers and educators who have studied what works.

The science of catching up

Daily tutoring for those who are most behind rises to the top in research evaluations

When kids pick their ‘trusted adult,’ it pays off

A district made it every employee’s job, from math teachers to custodians, to support student mental health in the pandemic

Rural areas have been slow to connect to broadband. More public funding could speed things up

Huge gaps exist in the nation’s broadband infrastructure, especially in rural states like New Mexico, but the pandemic may be the crisis that changes that forever

Zeroing in on a handful of strategies to catch kids up in math

Tutoring, flexible instruction and targeted support are among the efforts schools are trying to build students’ strengths

Digital divide: Gap is narrowing, but how will schools maintain progress?

How educators are trying to maintain progress on digital divide

International newcomer academies offer lessons on how to quickly catch up children who are learning English

Educators say English-language learners were among the hardest hit during the pandemic

How one district went all-in on a tutoring program to catch kids up

A North Carolina district figured out early that tutoring could make a difference for kids who missed instruction, and they plan to keep it up for months and even years to come

Kids are failing algebra. The solution? Slow down.

One class often makes the difference between a STEM career and dropping out of high school — and this year the warning signs are everywhere that students have fallen behind

Learning from Lockdown

Earlier this year The Hechinger Report partnered with the Education Labs at AL.com, the Dallas Morning News, Fresno Bee, Seattle Times, The Christian Science Monitor and Solutions Journalism Network to produce a series of solutions-oriented stories on the best lessons from lockdown.

Lessons Learned