Students will begging taking the STAAR test today, and School officials are hoping that the results will help them determine how much learning loss has happened during the pandemic.
An optional STAAR exam was took at the beginning of the year, results from then showed that on average students were three months behind, but studies from the current exam may show that the learning gap has grown.
“Most students are behind, where they would have been had the pandemic not occurred,” said Chris Walters, education policy analyst for Texas 2036.
The learning loss was somewhat expected but experts are seeking solutions.
“It could take this entire next school year, to kind of get everything back on track, to more or less where we were as far as the learning curve,” said Dr. James Whittenburg, an associate professor of counseling at UTRGV
Dr. Whittenburg said that for parents to understand the learning loss they can compare the situation to sports training.
“Can a child simply play basketball by watching videos? No, they have to go out and dribble and shoot, that tactile learning that is very important,” Dr. Whittenburg said.
Walters said that the STAAR test will help understand who’s been hit the hardest and how they will provide resources and support to the students who need it most.
