Through 100 Days of Conversations, young people, educators, family and community members across the country talked together about their learnings and realizations about school when the typical experience was disrupted by COVID.
While the current public narrative is largely about “learning loss” (the perceived decrease in test scores during the pandemic), this was not what was on the minds of 100 Days participants. The things they realized were most important (though often overlooked), included: social connections of all kinds; the ability to create engaging, differentiated classroom practices (so much more challenging virtually); and simply the physical infrastructure and the different kinds of supports available when school was in person (included mental health support, particularly).
Additionally despite how often negative stories of school are highlighted, participants frequently shared how much they simply missed
being in school with others (adults and students alike!) for a variety of reasons. There is something about the broadly shared U.S. school experience that people really missed during the pandemic.
The following information was analyzed from conversations between students, educators, families, and community members across the United States.
Click on the highlighted words to hear participant voices.
Social ConnectionsEngaged, Differentiated Classroom PracticesPhysical + Mental Well-BeingAdvocating for Diversity & EquityQuestions to ConsiderWork to Make Change
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Social Connections
While many young people talked about how much they missed their old friends and making new friends, this wasn’t the only aspect of social connection that was missed - they also talked about how they hadn’t realized how much sharing physical space with different people mattered to their well-being, as well as having opportunities to develop social skills.