No pandemic learning loss in Sweden during the pandemic (unlike New Mexico)

06.28.2022

Remember when Sweden (and Swedish schools) remained open while New Mexico and many other “blue” states shut down, including schools during the COVID pandemic? We do. Nonetheless, Michelle Lujan Grisham shut the schools down for over a year costing our children dearly, a mistake that one researcher told the New York Times was “the largest increase in educational inequity in a generation.”

Now, research (click on the image below) finds that Swedish children experienced NO learning loss during the pandemic. Below that is the sorry tale from New Mexico (again, click the pictures for source).

Oh, and Sweden’s death rate from COVID was lower than the US as a whole and about half of New Mexico’s rate.

 

When looking at reading scores by state, all but six states saw a decrease in students hitting a state-set landmark. The poor reading marks indicate that students, especially younger ones, are still struggling, with a median student-growth percentile of 35, showing very low growth

The math exam saw students perform similarly, with 10 states slightly rising above the 50 mark - Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Vermont, and North and South Dakota