In a recently published article by The Baltimore Sun, it has been discovered that school systems have issued double - and sometimes - triple the number of failing grades to students that is believed to be the result of the prolonged learning-from-home due to the pandemic.
The article says that combining Baltimore City and Baltimore County together, more than 10,000 middle school students are failing English. In Anne Arundel County, 61% of high school students have a GPA of 2.0 or less.
In the past year, since schools switched to virtual classrooms, 11 high school systems have seen a doubling of failure rates in English and 13 systems have seen a doubling in math failure rates.
A driving factor that has been seen as a driving factor behind the dips is the lack of attendance to virtual classes and many teachers have claimed their students appear to be disengaged, turning off their cameras and making no attempts to complete assignments.
It is being said that it could take "years" to make up lost ground once schools return to a sense of pre-pandemic normalcy.
Baltimore City CEO Sonja Santelises says their school system is planning "a collection of interventions over the next two years" including "intensive tutoring and summer school" and is looking at other options as well.
The article claims that in Baltimore County, average daily attendance from students was 80%, and only 56% for "economically disadvantaged" students. One-third of all high school students are not showing up for their classes.
Read the full story on BaltimoreSun.com