From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov

Transcript for: K-12 Learning Loss During the Pandemic, 1.1 Million
Teachers Had Students Who Did Not Show Up For School

Description: For millions of students, teachers and their families, the
last couple of school years during COVID-19 were rife with challenges
that disrupted education. But many teachers nationwide reported having
students who never even showed up during the entire 2020-2021 school
year. We’ll find out more from GAO’s Jackie Nowicki.

Related GAO Work: GAO-22-104581, K-12 Education: An Estimated 1.1
Million teachers Nationwide had at least one student who never showed up
for class in the 2020-2021 School Year

Released: March 2022

[Jackie Nowicki:] At least 1.1 million students missed an entire year of
learning. And that's a staggering number.

[Holly Hobbs:] Hi, and welcome to GAO’s Watchdog Report--your source for
news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm
your host, Holly Hobbs.  For millions of students, teachers and their
families, the last couple of school years during COVID-19 were rife with
challenges that disrupted education. But many teachers nationwide
reported having students who never even showed up during the entire 2021
school year. Today we'll find out more about these missing students and
the challenges that may have contributed to their absences from GAO
Director Jackie Nowicki, an expert on K-12 education. Thanks for joining
us.

[Jackie Nowicki:] Thanks for having me, Holly.

[Holly Hobbs:] So, Jackie, do we know how many students in K-12 schools
didn't show up at all during the 2021 school year?

[Jackie Nowicki:] Well, we know what the minimum number is that did not
show up. We know that—because nearly half of teachers we surveyed across
the country had at least one student who never showed up for class all
year--our low-end estimate is 1.1 million students nationwide. And one of
the most telling things about the 2021 school year is that the vast
majority of teachers said that they had more students who never showed
up compared to a typical year before the pandemic.  And while missing
school was more common when students were learning virtually, the
problem was widespread, whether schools were in-person or not.

[Holly Hobbs:] So were these mostly younger kids, who maybe weren’t
vaccinated and so parents might be more hesitant to send them to school?

[Jackie Nowicki:] They were in all grades K-12, but definitely more
common in high school. So about two-thirds of high school teachers said
they had at least one student who never showed up, compared to about
one-third of K-2 teachers. But you bring up an interesting point. So
though it was less commonly reported in younger grades, four out of five
K-2 teachers said they had more students who never showed up compared to
a typical year before the pandemic.

[Holly Hobbs:] And did these students have anything else in common?
Like, for example, do we know family income or location, if that was a
factor in their attendance?

[Jackie Nowicki:] Yes, they had two major things in common. So students
who never showed up for class, primarily came from schools where the
majority of students are students of color, and from schools where at
least 20% of students live in poverty. Now, those factors often overlap
with schools that are in a more urban environment.

[Holly Hobbs:] So, Jackie, what's going on here?

[Jackie Nowicki:] A lot. So in the first year of the pandemic, as
schools were transitioning to virtual learning, the biggest challenges
were all about students not having devices or adequate Internet access.
Our teacher survey suggests, though, that Internet access remained an
issue, but access to devices did not.

[Holly Hobbs:] So what were some of the other obstacles?

[Jackie Nowicki:] Most teachers said limited or no adult assistance or
support at home was an obstacle for their students. And so has
difficulty learning in a virtual environment. Also, high school teachers
said that for their students, competing demands on their time--so
providing care to a family member or work commitments-- interfered with
school. And I thought it was really interesting. Providing care for a
family member was an issue for kids as young as third grade. Nearly half
of third through eighth grade teachers said their students were
providing care for a family member. And that could be as simple as
helping a younger sibling with virtual learning, for example.

{MUSIC}

[Holly Hobbs:] So Jackie just told us that an estimated 1.1 million
students missed the entire 2020-2021 school year. And that this could be
because of challenges accessing school remotely, but also because of
other challenges at home. So, Jackie, this is our first in a series of
reports on this issue. Can you tell us a little bit about what else
we're looking at?

[Jackie Nowicki:] Definitely. So we'll be issuing a series of reports in
the spring on learning loss that many students suffered during the
pandemic. These reports rely on questions from our first-ever,
nationally generalizable teacher survey, as well as 20 discussion groups
we held with principals, teachers and parents. The first report will lay
out obstacles to learning that students faced and strategies teachers
said helped more students mitigate that learning loss. The second report
is going to focus on what we call vulnerable populations. So those are
groups of students like High-Poverty Kids, English Learners, our
youngest learners in grades K-12. And we'll drive more into the specific
challenges they faced and the strategies their teachers found helpful.
And a third report will focus on what all this means and what are the
implications moving forward for the future of K-12 education.

[Holly Hobbs:] And last question, what's the bottom line of this report?

[Jackie Nowicki:] Well, at least 1.1 million students missed an entire
year of learning. And that's a staggering number. And we know the
pandemic will have effects that reverberate for students for years to
come. But at the end of the day, there are a lot of unknowns here, like
whether schools and districts will be able to effectively reengage these
kids, and whether the pandemic will have even longer term effects on
students. Not to mention teachers. We have work that's going to issue in
the summer that focuses on teacher shortages too.

[Holly Hobbs:] That was Jackie Nowicki talking about GAO’s recent report
on student attendance challenges during COVID-19. Thanks for your time,
Jackie.

[Jackie Nowicki:] Thanks, Holly.

[Holly Hobbs:] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To
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