Standardized tests have revealed the consequences of the pandemic for Florida students and schools

After the most unusual year in recent human history, hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the consequences are felt at all levels. From Health, up to economy, through the education children.

South of the Florida, as in most of the world, minors experienced enormous uncertainty oscillating between face-to-face and virtual classes, With rules changing every time the bubble bursts.

As a result, the results of standardized tests that students take in Florida public schools have shown that in Miami-Dade, the 43% of children between preschool and third grade are below the expected level in reading and 54% or have shown a delay in mathematics.

In the neighboring county of Broward, tests have shown that most second- and fifth-graders have delayed reading. Seventeen percent of second-graders were two years below their age in reading, while 28 percent of fifth-graders were two or more years behind in reading. In that same school district, first graders were two grades lower than expected for their age in math, while fourth and fifth graders were two or more behind in math.

But the problems are not just academic. According to statements by former Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie, near 65,000 students in South Florida present with social and emotional problems.

The Miami-Dade School District is the largest in Florida and the fourth largest in the country, with more than 245,000 students in public schools. For its part, Broward has 204,000 students in its public system.

To counter this reality, the Miami-Dade and Broward school districts are taking proactive measures, including hire more teachers, tutors and mental health counselors, in addition to promoting greater involvement of parents in the educational process and forging alliances so that children have access to good after-school programs .

In Miami-Dade, they received approximately $ 823 million of the Congress-approved federal bailout, which will be used in its entirety to support children trying to make up for losses from the previous year. Broward received approximately 257 million for the same purpose.

Miami-Dade has hired 400 new teachers for the school year which begins at the end of August, Broward has 462 new teaching positions, many of them part-time.

The idea is that many of these new teachers are in charge of support programs, where young people learn study methods, or concentrate on reading or math, without needing to carry an entire class, like traditional teachers. Its role is more than trainers on specific topics than educators in the classic concept.

The other important topic will be the mental health of the students. With new mental health coordinators, minors are expected to find in school the emotional support necessary to deal with the fears and doubts that a return to a traditional face-to-face school system can generate.

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