Inequality is the biggest and longest running story in education. It’s upsetting but not surprising that the pandemic exacerbated inequities. Black, Hispanic and low-income kids bore the brunt of school closures, a McKinsey report shows. They took the biggest hits and lost the most ground typically made in a school year. 

By the start of this school year, students on average could have lost five to nine months of learning. Students of color could be six to 12 months behind, compared with four to eight months for white students. Lower-income students fell further behind their wealthier peers — they’re seven months behind, compared to four months for kids who are more well off. 

Learning loss, or unfinished learning, looms over the joy of returning to school. And for this particular student population, the pandemic has already taken a devastating toll.

Now children across the country have returned to classrooms for traditional brick and mortar schooling. Learning loss, or unfinished learning, looms over the joy of returning to school. And for this particular student population, the pandemic has already taken a devastating toll.

This is largely due to access — to computers, the internet and live teacher instruction.

Black and Hispanic households are three to four percentage points less likely than white households to have reliable access to devices, and three to six percentage points less likely to have reliable access to the internet. Black and Hispanic students are three to six percentage points less likely to receive consistent live instruction when in a remote setting.

The educational gap is great, as is the progress that must be made. This impact is not just dangerous for education equity today, it is detrimental for the rest of children’s lives and the U.S. economy as a whole. Today’s students may earn $49,000 to $61,000 less over their lifetime because of the harm inflicted on their schooling, according to a new McKinsey study. The impact on the economy could amount to between $128 and $188 billion every year.

It has become clear that schools alone can’t mitigate this loss facing students, especially those who are historically underserved and marginalized. 

It has become clear that schools alone can’t mitigate this loss facing students, especially those who are historically underserved and marginalized. 

A solution? Broad-scale support of easily accessible technology for supplemental, at-home learning to address the access issue that led to COVID-induced educational disparities in the first place.

Creative Use of Technology Is Key to Learning Recovery

My organization, Worldreader, has helped over 19 million children and youth improve their educational outcomes and lives by revolutionizing access to reading through a global collection of digital books on free and easy-to-use technology (via e-readers and mobile phones). Since 2010, over 13.3 million people across 62 countries have read from Worldreader’s digital library of thousands of e-books and used our free reading lessons. In 2020, we launched our first US program.

The timing was fortuitous as it aligned with a rapidly changing education system. From the mountains of Appalachia to the Bronx in New York City, we partnered with community-based organizations to distribute our BookSmart app, a digital library of thousands of books that lets students track their reading progress and set goals for themselves.

The creative use of technology is key to solving the issue of education inequity and catching underserved students up to their more privileged counterparts.

To be sure, there’s no shortage of edtech companies peddling the learning loss narrative to encourage districts to buy their services so kids can catch up. But this isn’t a manufactured trend. We’re all spending more time with our phones, and kids are leading the charge. The creative use of technology is key to solving the issue of education inequity and catching underserved students up to their more privileged counterparts.

I applaud Congress’ approval of over $120 billion in funding for schools and the requirement that a substantial amount is spent to counter learning loss. But work also needs to be done at home to supplement school-based measures, such as extending the school day and engaging with parents directly during the evenings. And digital learning technologies must work well regardless of traffic volume, type of internet connection or platform, and access to teacher assistance. 

Americans are more likely to have cell phones than computers, so we need to make digital learning programs freely available on these devices. By doing so, we will be better able to reach the children who are most in need of access to books or other educational support. In addition, we can reduce costs to families by designing learning apps that use very limited data, and we can benefit those with periodic access to the internet by making books and activities available for download.

We need technology that is functional, free and accessible for all families,

We need technology that is functional, free and accessible for all families, so caregivers can easily support their children’s learning. By making education technology easier to use, we can ensure families and children stick with it. For Worldreader’s Keep Children Reading program, we prioritized a “two-click,” zero-sign-in methodology into the BookSmart app. Readers can access books in a matter of seconds, and family time is focused on reading together, not figuring out how to get to the book.

Other organizations are doing similar, vital work to help students catch up in core subjects. Moose Math is a free app for iPhones and iPads that help younger students practice skills like counting, addition and subtraction. PBS Kids offers Sid’s Science Fair, which engages children in experiential learning with core science concepts on a downloadable app. We can’t lose sight of the importance of organizations like these for students using easy-to-use and accessible technology to support those with a greater burden of unfinished learning who have the greatest ground to cover. 

For educators, the weight is heavy. A recent survey showed 92% of teachers said teaching is more stressful now than prior to the pandemic and that it has only grown more challenging over the course of the past 18 months. They can’t be expected to tackle this behemoth of a problem alone nor should they. 

Now is the time to prioritize accessible technology that is accessible by historically marginalized students who were disproportionately impacted by learning loss. Only then can we give these kids a fighting chance.

Photo by WavebreakMediaMicro, Adobe Stock.

David Risher is a former executive at Microsoft and Amazon. He is the co-founder and CEO of Worldreader, a nonprofit that builds better readers, lives and communities by supporting reading and distance learning through a free global collection of digital books and activities on easy-to-use technology.

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