He finally did the math.
The leader of the US’s second-largest teachers’ union has attributed the worldwide drop in maths scores on key international tests to the COVID-19 pandemic — where he has lobbied against a full return to in-person learning.
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten issued a statement saying distance learning was to blame for the drop in Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 math scores after scores were released Tuesday.
“Around the world, the extraordinary drop in math and reading scores shows how devastating the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on student learning is and highlights how important it is that we prepare now, so we don’t get caught out during another public health emergency. crisis,” Weingarten said.
“Face-to-face learning is where children do their best, which is why educators and their unions are working so hard to reopen US schools for safe face-to-face learning starting in April 2020, and why we have spent the last few years following the pandemic. prioritizing public schooling and investing in real solutions that help children recover and thrive,” he added.
US math scores on the PISA exam fell by 13 points between 2018 and 2022, which UFT president Randi Weingarten blamed on the COVID-19 outbreak. Getty Images
Weingarten, 65, has fought the Trump administration’s push to reopen schools nationwide in July 2020, reportedly calling the decision “reckless” and “cruel” as millions of Americans sicken and die from COVID-19.
“As if [then-President Donald] Trump and [then-Education Secretary Betsy] DeVos wants to create chaos and wants to derail the reopening,” Weingarten told the Guardian of DeVos’ plan to fully reopen schools in the fall of 2020.
“There is no other reason why they would be this reckless, this callous, this cruel.”
Weingarten, seen at a January rally in Chicago, has called plans to reopen schools in the fall of 2020 “reckless.” AP
He later successfully lobbied the Biden administration to halt the reopening entirely and allow some teachers to work remotely in the winter of 2021, The Post exclusively revealed.
Earlier this year, Weingarten was accused of “abusing his previous position” when he claimed he was fighting to reopen schools starting in May 2020.
US 15-year-olds saw their test scores on the PISA assessment drop by 13 points from pre-pandemic levels as part of a worldwide trend.
Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the tests in the US, downplayed the correlation between the outbreak and worse results in a statement Tuesday.
“Most of the changes in scores are not due to the school being closed,” he said.
The National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the US, told The Post in a statement that the results show that more investment is needed in American education, but did not mention the epidemic.
“As seen in previous PISA results, ‘high-performing’ countries and systems are those that combine high levels of achievement and high levels of support for student learning and well-being,” said NEA president Becky Pringle.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
