Pandemic learning recovery? Yes, and no.

Longtime teacher Manny Aceves says students this past school year were like athletes attempting to complete a marathon after not running for two years. Children were winded at the outset after extensive remote learning, yet slowly their endurance for classroom work increased. 

“We’re talking about sixth grade and there’s a lot of rigorous curriculum, but they were pooped out by lunch,” says Mr. Aceves, who retired in June after 31 years teaching third and sixth grade in La Mesa-Spring Valley School District in Southern California. “Part of it was building stamina, their ability to pay attention and to focus.”

But gradually, over the course of the 2021-2022 school year, Mr. Aceves’ students progressed. His district purchased the software i-Ready, which identifies student reading and math levels. Some of his sixth graders were shocked when their results placed them at a second, third, or even kindergarten