Nearly five years after the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close, the impact of the virus and the response are still evident in classrooms across Northeast and Central Pennsylvania.
Most school districts in the region reported lower standardized test scores for exams taken in 2024, compared to those taken in 2019 — the last before the pandemic, according to a WVIA News analysis. Statewide, while proficiency levels have increased the last several years, achievement remains lower than in 2019.
The analysis compared scores with 2019 levels and found that of the state’s 500 school districts:
- 17 — none of them in the region — have higher proficiency rates in English language arts.
- 148 scored higher in math.
- 153 scored higher in science.
Pandemic learning loss — or the drop in skills or achievement due to the disruption of education — could be felt for years, according to Beth Rajan Sockman, an education professor at East Stroudsburg University.
“Especially if they were in, I would say the second grade or even first-grade through fourth-grade range during COVID, we're going to see effects on those students for quite some time,” she said. “Those are pivotal years for learning how to read, and we know that learning how to read, and reading and comprehension is the basis of everything we do in school and every kind of learning that we have.”
Across the region, there is also growth — bright spots of learning and engagement in schools. WVIA News visited some of those classrooms.
Viewers can hear from area superintendents and learn more about what school districts are doing to combat learning loss on the Keystone Edition Reports, which aired Jan. 6, on WVIA-TV.
LEARNING LOSS
Students in third through eighth grades take Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) exams. End-of-course Keystone Exams are administered in middle and high school depending on when students take the corresponding subject. The WVIA analysis examines PSSA scores.
Statewide, PSSA proficiency rates — or the percentage of students who score at proficient or advanced levels on the tests were:
- English language arts, 60.9% in 2019, 55.5% in 2021, 53% in 2024
- Math, 42.4% in 2019, 32.8% in 2021, 40.4% in 2024
- Science, 68% in 2019, 63.8% in 2021, 65.8% in 2024
“I am so excited that, once again, this year’s assessment results showed increased levels of participation and improvement across the commonwealth,” former Secretary of Education Khalid N. Mumin said before he left the department last month. “Pennsylvania’s schools are using new, innovative approaches to help their students learn, increasing assessment flexibility for both educators and learners alike. I am confident that with each passing year, participation and achievement will continue to improve and give students new ways to chart their own course and succeed.”
The pandemic changed education. Students and teachers use more technology. Schools increased access to mental health services. In many schools, student progress in math and reading is more closely tracked with frequent intervention if necessary.
Since returning to in-person instruction — which for some districts was in fall 2020, but for others not until 2021, teachers have navigated learning loss. A 2023 study by researchers from Harvard and Stanford universities found the average U.S. public school student in grades third through eighth lost the equivalent of a half year of learning in math and a quarter of a year in reading.
The pandemic disrupted student learning and development, resulting in significant learning loss and an increase in mental health challenges. It also exacerbated existing racial inequities and worsened achievement gaps, according to a 2024 report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
A 2024 report from Harvard and Stanford showed that academic achievement gaps that widened during the pandemic still remain and have worsened in some states.
In schools throughout the region, teachers work to eliminate skill gaps and positively impact student growth.
“The pandemic was really hard for everyone, but what some teachers and administrators felt is that it shed a light on things that were easy to ignore or just keep going," Rajan Sockman said. "More people were struggling than we really knew.”
GAINS IN BLOOMSBURG
Children gathered around a table in Terri Yurko’s classroom at Memorial Elementary School in Bloomsburg. The veteran third-grade teacher met with small groups of students as they practiced math skills for elapsed time, counting money and multiplication fluency.
With 400 students, the elementary school is the largest in the 1,500-student district in Columbia County. Districtwide, math proficiency is 53.4% — up from the 2019 rate of 39.5%. The jump is one of the largest in the state.
During the pandemic, the district tried to keep students in the physical classroom as much as possible, said Jonathan Cleaver, in his third year as superintendent. He attributes the success to hard-working teachers who built relationships with students and their families.
“They really focus on the whole child here,” he said. “They go above and beyond.”
Rachael Pecorelli started teaching third grade during the 2019-20 school year. By spring, her classroom had changed dramatically. Like Yurko, she spent part of her math class working with small groups.
“I think that plays a huge role in how successful my students are because I can really tailor everything right to what my students need and where they're at,” Pecorelli said.
She and Yurko continuously revise lessons to meet student needs and design “spiral review activities,” which help students retain information learned weeks, if not months, before.
Students worked quietly at their desks. A floor lamp and string lights provided a warm glow.
“We've created an environment where they feel comfortable working,” Pecorelli said. “They enjoy learning, and I think that's most of it.”
SCRANTON GROWTH
The chants from Annamae Martinelli’s classroom could be heard in the hallway of Frances Willard Elementary School.
“Five or more, we go up… five or more we go up,” the students repeated during the math lesson on rounding.
During the pandemic, the hallways in Scranton remained vacant for a year. Some students didn’t return to classrooms until fall 2021. While proficiency rates in Scranton have increased the last few years, the rates remain lower than 2019. Math proficiency is 16.2%, down from 24.5% in 2019. English language arts proficiency is 33.3%, down from 46.9%.
Frances Willard, a school in West Scranton named after the activist and suffragist, has seen some of the highest growth over the last year. Proficiency rates are among the highest in the Lackawanna County district of about 9,000 students. Of Willard’s 350 students, 85% are considered economically disadvantaged. On the PSSA tests taken in the spring, 51.3% scored proficiently and above in math and 52.2% in English language arts.
Principal Shannon Rucker credits the teachers. Rucker worked in two other buildings during the height of the pandemic, West Scranton Intermediate and Isaac Tripp Elementary. Technology and the access to it created major obstacles for some families.
“When we saw the kids, the kids weren't in school in a year and a half, so they had all that learning loss, and we had to go back to the basics,” Rucker said.
The “basics” included how to wait in line for lunch, get on the school bus and work with others. Now in her second year at Willard, Rucker said she has found teachers who work closely with one another, including those in other grade levels.
“We get to have conversations together. That's what we talk about… how do we motivate these kids? We want to get them here,” Martinelli said. “And how do we make the learning fun and make sure that it's something that they're going to remember?”
In another classroom, reading specialist Carissa Burnside helped students sound out words.
"N … ap"
"T … ap"
"C … ap"
She believes a new literacy initiative she and other teachers are receiving training for will make a positive impact on their students.
“I feel like getting back on track, you know, after COVID,” Burnside said. “A lot of great things are coming about in the district. And I think we're finally making progress and getting kids back where they need to be.”
PSSA databases
The following databases show 2024 standardized test scores for the state's 500 school districts, compared to 2019 scores.
