Virtual Learning Was a Disaster for Many Texas Students

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A lot of people had to deal with real disruptions to their everyday lives and workplaces when the coronavirus pandemic began. Decisions were made to close some businesses, while other businesses were allowed to remain open.

Another decision that was made had to do with our schools in Texas. During a pandemic, do you allow schools to keep meeting or do you send kids home and have teachers teach virtually? Teachers, administrators, students and parents all had to learn quickly about virtual learning.

After two years of schools being interrupted and many students learning in a different way, the report card is here...and it's not very good.

According to the Dallas Morning News, nearly four out of 10 public school students in Texas failed the state math exams. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) released results from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, also known as the STAAR exam. So what does this mean? It means 800,000 students in Texas are below grade level in math.

From the Dallas Morning News:

“This is probably 800,000 more students in Texas in mathematics that are noticeably below grade level this year as a result of COVID than in normal years,” Education Commissioner Mike Morath said. “It is important to remember that these are not numbers. These are children.”

The test results show more students not meeting grade level benchmarks in almost all subject areas and nearly every grade with the steepest learning loss in math. This year, 37% of students tested failed math exams and 33% failed reading tests -- an uptick of 16% and 4% respectively over 2019 results.

The Dallas Morning News also reported that schools that had more students in virtual learning performed worse than those who had more kids in the classroom.

While some of the students may have enjoyed being out of school during the pandemic, the evidence is pretty clear: they needed to be in school and learning face-to-face from teachers.