“We’re recovering, but we’re recovering slowly,” said Lee Bryant, PCTA President.
Bryant is the new president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, but this is his first year outside of the classroom after teaching high school for 28 years.
He saw firsthand how the COVID-19 pandemic affected teachers and students.
“I had no idea how to teach on Teams. Then we went away for Spring Break, and they said, ‘you’re not coming back.’ And I was like, ok, let’s figure this out. So there was a loss on the part of the teachers,” said Bryant.
He said learning loss wasn’t created by the pandemic but made it much worse.
“Learning loss has been a problem in the inner city, in poor areas, in places where there are parents who have two or three jobs quite often where they are not able to interact with their children. And it got amplified with the pandemic,” said Bryant.
“I think the pandemic presented a lot of challenges for students who were struggling to stay engaged and continue learning and making progress,” said Karen Boggess, JWB’s Chief Program Officer.
Newly released statewide test scores from the Florida Department of Education show that 50% of students in 3rd-10th grade tested on grade level or above in English Language Arts.
While 56% of 3rd-8th graders tested on grade level or above in math.
School officials said this shows that they are making improvements from pandemic-era learning, but not enough.
“And it still hasn’t caught up,” said Bryant.
Groups like the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County have been working around the clock through different programs to make sure students are catching up.
“It is extremely critical and important because we want all children in Pinellas to be successful and to be academically on track,” said Boggess.
As the start of the new school year looms, teachers want students and families to start getting ready now, fearing the summer slide will make it that much more difficult to learn when students return.
“Having children read on a regular basis every single day so they don’t get out of that pattern,” said Boggess.
They recommend dedicating about 30 minutes or more to reading every day to make the transition easier when school starts.
“They need to start preparing themselves by doing some of the mental gymnastics it will take when they go into school,” said Bryant.
“As parents getting back into a structure with our kids. Having them go to bed in a timely manner so that they are ready to go to school,” said Boggess.
