Episode 45: Recovering from Covid’s Disruption to Education

RUNDOWN
09:25 Log onto Zoom
09:30 Start
10:30 Close

Nearly three years ago, the first case of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) was confirmed in Hong Kong. We have since experienced dramatic shifts in the ways we work, live, and interact. Now, we are emerging from social distancing and embarking on a new normal of life with Covid-19, returning to more regular school routines.

Recent US test scores have shown a significant drop in reading and math abilities among children, to a level not seen in 20 years. This decline is due largely to disruptions in education because of Covid. In Hong Kong, children have experienced long periods of online schooling and reduced classroom time over the past three years.  What can schools do to make up for lost time? How can parents and educators help children achieve despite the disruptions? How can communities assist the most vulnerable children to ensure they don’t drop out entirely?

Asia Society Hong Kong Center brings you regular updates on Hong Kong’s coronavirus story and its reverberations through the rest of the world. We are pleased to present on-the-ground public health experts, mental health professionals, and internationally renowned specialists with the latest facts and evidence-based findings regarding this pandemic. In the past three years, we have recorded 44 episodes and welcomed more than 250,000 online views for this groundbreaking series.

In our latest update, we are pleased to host Susanna Loeb, a Professor of Education at Stanford University and Director of the National Student Support Accelerator. In this discussion, we will hear about efforts in the US to recover from the loss in academic achievement, including what school systems are doing now and what additional actions they should take. S. Alice Mong, Executive Director of Asia Society Hong Kong Center, will moderate the discussion.

Susanna Loeb is a Professor of Education at Stanford University and Director of National Student Support Accelerator, which aims to expand access to relationship-based, high-impact tutoring in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Before her recent move back to Stanford, Susanna was the Director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and Professor of Education and of International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Susanna’s research focuses broadly on education policy and its role in improving educational opportunities for students. Her work has addressed issues of educator career choices and professional development, of school finance and governance, and of early childhood systems. Susanna was the founding director of the Center for Education Policy at Stanford and co-director of Policy Analysis for California Education. She led the research for both Getting Down to Facts projects for California schools. She is also an affiliate at NBER and JPAL and a member of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the speakers and participants and, unless expressly stated to the contrary, do not reflect the opinion, position or official policy of Asia Society Hong Kong, its members, or its committees. Asia Society Hong Kong does not endorse or approve, and assumes no responsibility for the content of the information presented.