January has come to a close and it was challenging for education.
As staff and students returned from Winter Break, the latest COVID variant began to show its effects with many people testing positive for the new strand, causing them to have to go into isolation thus missing time in school.
The good news is that vaccines have proven effective with the number of deaths and ICU hospitalizations having been drastically reduced from January of last year. It also helped that the new strand, Omicron, although highly contagious, was relatively mild in severity.
Nonetheless, January's absence from school may have an impact on the overall academic achievement abyss that COVID has caused over the last two years. This is clearly reflected in the results from the 2021 CAASPP which showed that less than 50% of students tested met or exceeded the English Language Arts state standards and in Math, only a third of students tested met or exceeded state standards. To make matters worse, less that 25% of students in California were tested, so the data represents a very small fraction of the overall student population of the state.
Yet with all these challenges, educators continue to do their best to provide instruction to students with the support of their families and school administrators. As we cross the second half of the school year, and begin to see the next graduating class rising over the horizon, we must continue to strive and persevere making education a priority in our lives. We plan, prepare, and hope that the months ahead will be bright and full of positive growth.
Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator
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