Research into students’ remote learning loss during the pandemic is yielding some surprising results. Studies are showing that losses varied widely — and many districts that went back in person had bigger losses than districts that stayed remote!

This pattern is inconsistent enough that it appears that school closures were not the primary driver of achievement drops. Many other factors may have played a bigger role.

A recent article in Chalkbeat explores the findings of one such study from Harvard. Understanding this and similar studies may prove helpful as your school seeks to offset learning loss. After all, it’s hard to create an effective plan if you don’t have all the facts!