Learning gain rather than learning loss during COVID-19: A proposal for reframing the narrative

Abstract

“Learning loss” has become the new buzzword in education during the COVID-19 era. Learning loss may be real in certain academic subjects (e.g. mathematics and reading) for certain students, as indicated by standardized test scores. However, it only tells a partial story. The other part of the story actually indicates different kinds of learning gain that might have occurred for children experiencing non-conventional learning opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the authors caution against subscribing to a learning-loss narrative, a deficits-based perspective, which can lead one to lose sight of children's potential learning gains that are not necessarily assessed or recognized. Against this backdrop, the authors offer four recommendations: (1) reframing the concept of “learning loss” to “learning gain”; (2) applying a strengths-based model rather than a deficits-based model for understanding student learning; (3) investing in the development of the whole child; and (4) ensuring that we focus on young children's socio-emotional well-being (e.g. relationship-building) and not solely on the cognitive domains.

For the students who ended up coming in person [during the 2020–2021 school year], I feel like they gained a lot more out of the socio-emotional aspect of learning how to interact with their peers, whereas for the kids who were at home [learning remotely], I feel like there was a slight learning loss [in their social and emotional development]. Sabrina (a preschool teacher)

“Learning loss” has become the new buzzword in education during this COVID-19 era. It may be defined simply as the loss of previously acquired or projected knowledge and skills. As Sabrina highlighted, preschool children educated in person have made gains in socio-emotional development, while those educated remotely have experienced “a slight learning loss” in this same developmental area. The difference seems to reflect variations in the nature of the learning opportunities experienced by those children having in-person instruction versus those receiving remote instruction.

As a foundational component of early childhood education, social and emotional learning is a pivotal developmental task for preschool children to accomplish (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2021). This task is best facilitated through social interaction (Chen and O’Donnell, forthcoming; Ho and Funk, 2018; Lawhon and Lawhon, 2000). Unfortunately, preschool children engaging in remote learning during the 2020–2021 school year were deprived of the needed in-person opportunity to socialize and play with others, which seemed to have resulted in a setback in their meeting the expected trajectory of socio-emotional development (Chen and O’Donnell, forthcoming). However, attributing this phenomenon simply to learning loss potentially suggests a deficits-based lens. This perspective may lead , educators to apply remediation or mitigation strategies to help children “catch up.” In contrast, we propose an alternative, which we feel is a more productive perspective that views the nature of student learning during COVID-19 through a strengths-based lens, focusing on learning gains. This viewpoint implies that children acquired learning, which might not have been what was usually counted by traditional educational expectations, but might have resulted from the unconventional opportunities they experienced during COVID-19. Furthermore, subscribing to this learning-gain perspective may encourage and motivate educators to support children's learning and development starting from where they are rather than from predetermined expectations.

Learning and development in young children during COVID-19

In the USA, early childhood education serves the youngest population of children (ages birth to eight/3rd grade), who have unique learning and developmental needs that are different from their older counterparts (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2021). The National Association for the Education of Young Children (2021) advocates developmentally appropriate practices that are strengths-based as the most responsive approach to promoting optimal development of the whole child. Because young children rely on social interaction and hands-on experiences for learning and development, learning remotely during COVID-19 has presented particular challenges, especially for children's social and emotional development (Chen and O’Donnell, forthcoming ). Remote learning was found to be doubly challenging for children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families, many of whom did not have a home environment conducive to remote learning and could not afford the educational resources, technological tools, or connectivity to support such learning during COVID-19 (Bassok et al., 2020). Understanding the children's struggles, teachers have mustered their own strengths in supporting these children's remote learning and development in creative ways during COVID-19 (Chen and Adams, 2022; Chen and O’Donnell, forthcoming).

From a learning-loss narrative to a learning-gain narrative

Perhaps no one would dispute that during the 2020–2021 school year, children experienced an interruption to learning that would have normally occurred in the traditional manner in schools. However, not all is lost. Children continued to learn and develop. The main difference lies in the opportunities and environments in which their learning unfolded. Hence, the nature and types of children's learning and their learning experiences were different from what was expected. However, learning interruptions during COVID-19 do not necessarily yield learning loss.

Learning loss generally refers to the cognitive area of learning, which may be real in certain academic subjects (i.e. mathematics and reading) and for certain students when measured by standardized test scores (e.g. Dorn et al., 2021; Renaissance Learning, 2021). For instance, analyzing the assessment results in reading and mathematics of more than 1.6 million elementary school students across more than 40 states of the USA, researchers (Dorn et al., 2021) from McKinsey and Company found that by the end of the 2020–2021 school year, students were four months behind in reading and five months behind in mathematics. The effects of the pandemic have further amplified achievement disparities among groups, with socioeconomically disadvantaged students and sociocultural minorities being hit the hardest academically (Dorn et al., 2021). However, learning loss only tells a partial story. Young children in the lower grades, especially in preschool, were not widely involved in standardized testing to measure their academic learning during the 2020–2021 school year. Thus, evidence of learning loss found in older children in academic areas cannot be equally applied to young children. Rather than testing for learning loss in academic areas, assessments of young children's non-cognitive development should be conducted to better gauge the kinds of learning opportunities and associated gains that did occur.

We propose an alternative perspective on the learning-loss phenomenon. For young children, we believe that their learning losses were actually missed opportunities for learning that would have occurred traditionally in an in-person educational setting, and not actual losses of previous learning or predetermined projected age- or grade-level learning targets set by education policy. What was really lost might have been the unique learning opportunities afforded to young children in a traditional in-person classroom, which would include both cognitive and non-cognitive domains of learning. For instance, young children missed experiences that would have developed the social interaction skills needed to build relationships with others and that support cognitive learning in academic subjects such as literacy and mathematics. In summarizing research on the science of learning and development, the Science of Learning and Development Alliance (2020: 10) concluded: “The presence and quality of our relationships may have more impact on learning and development than any other factor.” This conclusion suggests the importance of attending to relationship-building as a key active ingredient in facilitating young children's optimal learning and development in all areas. The opportunity for developing relationship-building-related skills, which are central and foundational to learning at all times, should be a main focus of child assessments. Thus, as children return to in-person learning, educators ought to dive into understanding, assessing, and capitalizing on both cognitive and non-cognitive strengths that children might have gained during the pandemic. Furthermore, educators should orchestrate opportunities to strike a balance in emphasis between cognitive and non-cognitive skills because they are both needed for optimal learning and development to take place.

From a deficits-based perspective to a strengths-based perspective

We caution against subscribing to a learning-loss narrative, a deficits-based perspective that can lead one to lose sight of children's potential learning gains in areas that are not necessarily commonly assessed. For instance, during COVID-19, young children might have learned to be more socio-emotionally resilient, acquired more digital and technological knowledge and skills, and developed a more expansive repertoire of problem-solving skills as they learned to access and use the Internet and digital resources. Zhao (2021) urges us to be aware of and avoid the “learning loss trap” because that trap may lead educators and education policymakers down the wrong path to investing money and time in the wrong places. For instance, investing money and time solely in mitigation or remediation efforts targeting recovery of learning in academic areas, particularly mathematics and reading, would not be the best route to follow. We also believe that a focus on learning loss and recovery presents a fragmented view of student learning. In contrast, educators should espouse a holistic perspective of learning integration, bringing together both cognitive and non-cognitive processes and outcomes. According to the Science of Learning and Development Alliance (2020: 11), “[l]earning is integrated with every aspect of our existence: academic, social, emotional, cognitive, physical, and identity-building.” As such, educators working with young children should, first and foremost, strengthen these children's social and emotional skills, which are foundational to their later academic success and integral to learning in all other developmental domains (Denham and Brown, 2010; Nix et al., 2013).

Recommendations for supporting the learning-gain narrative from a strengths-based perspective

Research in the USA (e.g. Dorn et al., 2021; Renaissance Learning, 2021) has revealed that learning loss, particularly in mathematics and reading, can lead policymakers in the wrong direction (Zhao, 2021). We believe that, moving forward, a better and more productive endeavor would be to concentrate attention on facilitating the socio-emotional well-being of young children and building their learning through a strengths-based model. Thus, we offer the following four recommendations:

Reframe learning loss as learning gain: educators and policymakers should not focus solely on the projected learning that did not occur. Instead, they should identify what learning gains did occur and then capitalize on those gains, providing opportunities that meet young children's developmental and learning needs.

Implement a strengths-based model of teaching where children are not treated as a homogeneous group but each child is valued as having unique learning strengths, experiences, and needs.

Invest in the development of the whole child, including the non-cognitive aspects of development, rather than centering solely on mitigating fragmented learning loss in the cognitive areas of development.

Prioritize efforts to foster young children's socio-emotional well-being (e.g. relationship-building), which has the potential of promoting a strong sense of stability and trust in them, thereby possibly counteracting their experience of uncertainty and anxiety brought about by COVID-19.