Wednesday, March 10, 2021
WASHINGTON (SBG) — Declining COVID-19 cases and priority vaccinations for teachers have allowed more schools to resume in-person classes, but assessing where students are academically and getting them back on track could be a bigger, long-term challenge.
While there is no nationwide data available on how students performed during the past year of the pandemic local reports paint a dismal picture.
Michigan saw twice the number of failing grades in the fall 2020 semester compared to 2019. The Austin, Texas school district reported a 70% increase in the number of failing students.
In North Carolina, the majority of high school students did not pass state end-of-course exams given in the fall and nearly a quarter of students were at risk of academic failure.
Slightly over half of middle and high school students in Arlington, Virginia are failing at least one class and Fairfax County saw an 83% increase in failing grades.
In Baltimore, WBFF uncovered systemic failures predating the pandemic. One student passed just three courses in four years and ranked near the top half of his class with a 0.13-grade point average. …
