Running fast but not getting far: Five years of studying the pandemic’s impact on education

This report distills five years of research to understand how the pandemic reshaped public education. Drawing from over 100 reports and articles, we examine the crisis response, recovery efforts, and ongoing challenges facing schools today. Key Findings Crisis Response: Schools struggled to maintain instruction with little federal or state guidance, facing political conflicts, mental health […]
Unfinished Business: What Must Come Next for Public Education, Five Years After Pandemic Shutdowns

The Current Crisis Five years after the pandemic disrupted education, public schools are still struggling to recover. Achievement gaps have widened, student performance is in decline, and many schools have reverted to an outdated, ineffective system that fails to meet today’s challenges. The pandemic exposed longstanding weaknesses in the education system—rigid structures, inequities, resistance to […]