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Education in a Pandemic: The Disparate Impacts of COVID-19 on America’s Students.
United States. Department of Education. Office for Civil Rights.
Federal Publication/Policy
Technical Report
53 p.
Public Domain
Published: June 2021
U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights
Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Bldg.
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202
Tel: (800) 421-3481
Fax: (202) 453-6012
OCR@ed.gov
Available From:https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/index.html
Download: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/20210608-impacts-of-covid19.pdf
This federally funded report explores the many ways that the COVID-19 pandemic is deepening divides in educational opportunity across classrooms and campuses in the United States. Information is drawn from an array of publicly available sources documenting the impacts of COVID-19 on America’s students, including surveys and interviews of students, families, and educators. Findings are discussed that indicate: the pandemic has negatively affected academic growth, widening pre-existing disparities; COVID-19 appears to have deepened the impact of disparities in access and opportunity facing many students of color in public schools; for many English learners, the abrupt shift to learning from home amid the challenges of the pandemic has made the struggle of mastering grade-level content and learning English even harder; for school students with disabilities, COVID-19 has significantly disrupted the education and related aids and services; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) students in elementary and secondary schools have faced particularly heightened risks for anxiety and stress and have lost regular access to affirming organizations and supports; nearly all students have experienced some challenges to their mental health and well-being and many have lost access to school-based services and supports; heightened risks of sexual harassment, abuse, and violence affect many students and may be having a continued disparate impact on students who are transgender, non-binary, or gender non-conforming; Asian American and Pacific Islander students have faced increased risk of harassment, discrimination, and other harms; COVID-19 has raised new barriers for many postsecondary students; and many institutions of higher education that disproportionately serve students of color and students from low-income backgrounds have seen declines in enrollment since the pandemic began. Recommendations are made for improving services. 255 references.
Keywords:
COVID-19; DISASTER RESPONSE; EDUCATION; POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION; DISPARITY; DISPROPORTIONALITY; ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT; SOCIOCULTURAL DIMENSIONS; SOCIOECONOMIC INFLUENCES; SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS; POVERTY; DEMOGRAPHY