About one out of 10 Texas students lost engagement or contact with their instructors after the state shuttered its schools in mid-March and adopted virtual learning amid the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data from the Texas Education Agency.
88.7% of Texas students remained fully engaged during the pandemic while about 11.3 percent of the state’s students lost engagement or failed to respond to their instructors during the distance learning period, according to the data.
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Here’s a breakdown of the data the TEA released:
Student engagement by grade level
Lower grade levels showed the highest rate of students who lost engagement or contact with their instructors during the pandemic. Pre-kindergarten had the highest percentages of no or lost engagement and no engagement or lost contact.
Student engagement by race/ethnicity
Black and Hispanic students were among those who struggled most with distance learning. Around 10.6 percent of hispanic students exhibited no or lost engagement or no engagement or lost contact while 13.9 percent of Black students exhibited no or lost engagement or no engagement or lost contact. By comparison, only about 5 percent of white students exhibited no or lost engagement or no engagement or lost contact.
Student engagement by family income
95.18% of non-economically disadvantaged students remained engaged during distance learning while the same was true for 84.5% of the state’s low-income students. Around 12.5 percent of low-income students exhibited no or lost engagement or no engagement or lost contact while by contrast, only about 3.8 non-economically disadvantaged students exhibited no or lost engagement or no engagement or lost contact during the pandemic.
Click here to view the data in its entirety.