Students anxious about return to Sacramento classrooms say grades dropped during the pandemic
Students in the Sacramento region have reported lower grades and higher feelings of anxiety about their future as they struggled with virtual learning during the pandemic.
Sixty-five percent said in a January 2021 survey that their grades dropped as school campuses closed over the last year.
The survey of 169 students - predominantly Black and Latino - was conducted by Improve Your Tomorrow, Inc., a community-based non-profit that focuses on serving the educational needs of young men of color.
The results suggest they aren’t returning to the classroom with much hope for success.
“I was talking with a young brother about a week or so ago. We were talking about how grades are down, etc. What got me was how we talked about how he had nothing to look forward to,” said Michael Lynch, CEO of Improve Your Tomorrow. “In the sense, he went to school, and afterward it was nothing. In a space where now stuff is shut down, activities are closed, young people come into space where they don’t feel hopeful.”
Out of the students that were surveyed - 50 of them are seniors in the Sacramento region - 9.5% said they are at risk of not graduating.
Nearly half said they were at risk of failing one or more classes.
More than 62% said they have friends or classmates who told them they were at risk of failing a class.
More than 60% said they were experiencing anxiety or stress.
The results suggest the high school dropout rate could rise and college admission rates could fall in the Sacramento region, Lynch said. He said they point to a need for plans to support students as they catch up, make up credits and improve their grades.
“It’s not as complicated as folks want to make it. You don’t have to hire 32 therapists in order to do this,” said Lynch.
Lynch suggested starting small with wellness check-in exercises. He feels this should be the start of every class day - to avoid going straight into the day’s lesson and to help address the stress and anxiety students have reported.
“You have to be able to take time to see what students need additional wellness support. I think if you focus on wellness and how they can convert it to academics you’re going to have a much better outcome in the long term,” said Lynch.
Improve Your Tomorrow serves students who are academically underperforming, socially at-risk or have experienced chronic stress or violence at home or in their community.
They work closely with students to guide them through high school and college.
