FILE - Kindergarten teacher Karen Drolet, left, works with a student at Raíces Dual Language Academy, a public school in Central Falls, Rhode Island, on Feb. 9, 2022.

A recent study revealed that, despite efforts, Latino students in the US have not managed to recover academically after the COVID-19 pandemic.

About four years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and more than one since its official end, the academic progress of students in the United States is advancing very slowly, a situation that is worsening among schoolchildren of Hispanic origin.

This is what it indicates a study from Harvard and Stanford University, which revealed that students had recovered only a third of their academic loss in mathematics and a quarter of their loss in reading. However, one fact that set off alarm bells is that students of Hispanic origin or who face language barriers register minimal progress and in some cases, none.

“This shows that although there is an academic recovery among students, sadly Latinos are not advancing and immediate actions must be taken to avoid the risk of having a lost generation,” he told the Voice of AmericaLina Lenis, political analyst on education issues at the UnidosUS organization.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced public schools across the United States to close in early 2020 to move to distance learning and then in some cases blended learning.

This new modality brought with it challenges such as internet access and the lack of communication and social interaction between students, teachers and parents.

Although The COVID-19 public health emergency has come to an end In May 2023, the impact of the pandemic on the Latino community is still present and affects school-age boys and girls.

What the pandemic left

“The pandemic put an end to almost two decades of academic progress. Results on national assessments declined sharply in 2022 compared to 2019. According to one indicator, more than six months of additional instruction would be needed for Latino high school students to regain pre-pandemic performance levels in reading and mathematics,” Lenis added.

The educator of Hispanic origin Mario Villanueva Ramos attributes this situation to the fact that after the pandemic, students abandoned reading routines.

“For a student, if he does not read, he will not advance. I have been able to see that children are using electronic devices much more, but instead of helping them grow their knowledge, they have become a problem,” says Villanueva.

The assistant teacher of the Fairfax County public schools in the state of Virginia, assures that “technology is serving as a distraction for students and they are not focusing on their academic performance.”

“The pandemic was disastrous, but now they are returning to school and they are relating everything to the use of technology. They have abandoned reading and surely at home they do not have the support they need to develop the habit. Reading will be the only key to get out of this problem that we are facing in education.”

According to a UnidosUS report, seven out of 10 Latino families say they are worried because their children are not at grade level and more than six out of 10 Hispanic families think schools should do more to help those students who stayed behind. lagging behind during the pandemic.

Making the most of education funds

The Emergency Relief Fund for Elementary and Secondary Schools provided three rounds of funding for education in the US with the purpose of mitigating the effects of the pandemic. However, according to UnidosUS “some school districts or states are not taking full advantage of the funds provided by the federal government. “We must evaluate which initiatives work to know how we put that money to work.”

To do this, the largest Latino organization in the United States recommends investing in intensive tutoring, additional time, such as adding an extra hour to the school day, along with more summer classes and inclusion of the family in these efforts.

“Now more than ever we must work with our leaders to make the most of the funds and that the investments made are sustainable. During the pandemic there was an injection of funds, but our work should not stop there because for a complete recovery, funds must continue to be provided to finish what was started,” says UnidosUs educational policy expert, Lina Lenis.

Martina Flores, mother of a student, experiences this lack of funds firsthand. According to what he told VOA received a letter from his son's school explaining that the minor, who is in fourth grade, could not be included in the program known as “Title I” to level up his knowledge in reading and comprehension, because the school system It did not have the necessary resources.

“They contacted me through a letter, where they only told me that unfortunately my son could not be included in the Title I program and that he would be placed on a waiting list due to lack of funds.”

“The truth was not clear to me and they only told me that I should wait to see if more funds were available or to ask the school what other programs they could offer my son,” says Mrs. Flores, who is still waiting until now. of some news.

The “Title I” program offers federal funds through state educational agencies to assist low-income families to close the educational gap and provide high-quality education to academically disadvantaged students.

What else can be done?

But not all responsibility in education should be left in the hands of schools. Both the UnidosUS organization and the educator Mario Villanueva agree that to improve the educational level of schoolchildren, the work begins at home. Both believe that a good relationship between parents, students and the school is the best equation.

“The education of our children and young people not only depends on the school, but is a triangle where school, parents and children must be well involved. If the three parties collaborate, these guys are going to be successful,” says Mario Villanueva.

For her part, Lina Lenis from UnidosUS assures that although education in the US “is not going through its best moment,” parents should know what their rights are to advocate for the best education for their children, because only then will they be informed of all the resources and extracurricular programs that schools offer.

“If we do not achieve this complete recovery in academics, we run the risk of having a generation that can be lost because by not being prepared our economy and that of the country will be affected. For the well-being of everyone, we must pay greater attention to the educational problem and raise awareness in our communities,” recommends the expert.