Many children struggled with learning loss due to school closures and remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. | National Cancer Institute/Unsplash
Many children struggled with learning loss due to school closures and remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. | National Cancer Institute/Unsplash
Illinois state Rep. and District 47 candidate, Amy Grant, recently shared her views on school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I don't think it was a wise thing to do, there was just one rule when it should have depended on where you live and what was happening in that district," Grant told the DuPage Policy Journal.
A UNICEF report from October 2021 found that government-mandated lockdowns and school closures negatively impacted children, leading to more fear, stress, anxiety, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, loss of learning, irregular physical activity and sleeping habits.
"I think in my district we were smarter than many," Grant said. "We kept schools (open) as much as we were able to, and they did a good job of taking steps to keep schools safe. I think in other areas of the state people overreacted, like Chicago Public Schools and that figures to really hurt their students. At the local level, at the local level people have more freedom and I feel parents should have more of a voice in things and that only happens when things are handled at the local level."
Enrollment in Pre-K-12 schools in Illinois declined by 3.6%, or roughly 70,000 students, during the 2020-2021 school year, according to Capitol News Illinois. Chronic absenteeism increased during that school year, with 22.8% of all Illinois students missing 10% or more of all school days. The number of students who exhibited grade level competence in math and English language arts decreased, with 17.8% fewer students demonstrating proficiency in math and 16.6% fewer students demonstrating proficiency in English.
“We know from national studies from the (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that school districts serving primarily Black and Hispanic students provided the least access to in-person learning last year,” Brenda Dixon ISBE’s research and evaluation officer said, according to Capitol News. “We suspect that less access to in-person learning contributed to lower engagement among Black and Hispanic students.”
School districts that offered more in-person learning saw smaller declines in enrollment than schools that used mostly remote learning, Illinois Policy reported.
In March, the ISBE announced a $17 million grant to establish a supplemental learning program for students impacted by learning loss due to school closures, according to the Dewitt Daily News. The program will be geared specifically towards low-income students.
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