Students Weigh In, Part IV: Learning & Well-Being After Covid-19

The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic upended student learning and well-being as we know it. Three years after the pandemic began, many aspects of learning and life have returned to some semblance of normal. As we emerge from the pandemic, how are students faring? The Students Weigh In project is a series of reports designed to highlight student insights and learn directly from their experience during a wholly unusual era of schooling. YouthTruth’s Students Weigh In reports track how secondary students’ perceptions of learning and well-being evolved across four time periods – spring 2020, fall 2020, spring 2021, and the 2022-23 school year – relative to the student experience prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This report explores secondary students’ feedback in a fourth and final moment in time, 2022-23, as a coda to the Students Weigh In series. What did students have to say about their learning, sense of belonging, mental health, and support from adults during the 2022-23 school year? How did these elements of social, emotional, and academic development change over the course of the pandemic? And how did experiences in 2022-23 differ across student demographic groups? Student perceptions of learning and belonging have returned to pre-pandemic levels but beg the question of whether this is a “normal” we want for our nation’s youth. On the other hand, students’ experiences with mental health and support from adults in school worsened during the pandemic and have yet to show signs of recovery. Across all measures, there are significant differences in the student experience across demographic groups. The data presented in this report paint a concerning picture of this era’s impact on student experience and emphasize the importance of listening to students to help them learn and thrive in the years ahead.