Here & Now

Katie Johnson on 'Pandemic Slide' and K-12 Student Success

Frederica Freyberg:

Since 2020, the pandemic academic slide in schools is well-documented. According to the nation’s report card, K-12 schools in the Midwest slipped the most in the country with reading scores down 7 points and math down 9. Overall, the worst slip in 30 years, but according to our next guest, it might not be just virtual learning to blame. Amery school psychologist and president of the Wisconsin School Psychologist Association, Katie Johnson, joins us, and thanks much for being here.

Katie Johnson:

Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

What are you seeing in your district and statewide, really, about how far behind students are academically this school year because of this pandemic slide?

Katie Johnson:

We are seeing a big slide back backward, and we’re not only seeing it — it’s not just proportional to the amount of time kids have been off school, that’s what I think stands out to me. It seems bigger than what we would expect given the amount of time that kids actually missed school, which leads me to believe there’s something more to it than just that time off of school and missing instruction.

Frederica Freyberg:

How surprised were you by the — what you’re describing as a major slip in academics?

Katie Johnson:

I think we’ve all been very surprised by it. You know, we expected, if we didn’t give face-to-face academic instruction, that there would be a slip, but we didn’t expect a large slip, and we didn’t expect the behavioral slip we’ve seen as well.

Frederica Freyberg:

You said that there were other things at play, and one of those, I understand, from you, is this behavioral issue. Describe what that is and where you are seeing it.

Katie Johnson:

We see it all the way, K-12, preK-12. We are seeing kids who just aren’t adjusted to classrooms. They don’t know basic rules. You know, how to sit still, how to maintain attention. I think being home was very different in a different environment. So — and you talked about where — what we see it coming from is I think it’s more than just not being in school. I think it’s stress on families and it’s the impact that the pandemic had on homes and families and people’s occupations and we’re seeing that all culminate in kids’ academic and behavioral success in school.

Frederica Freyberg:

If behavior and mental health problems are worse, how well equipped are schools to help?

Katie Johnson:

Schools are very well equipped to help. We have mental health providers in schools. We have school psychologists, school counselors, school nurses. We have a lot of people who work in schools to help, but I do think it is a bigger issue than just schools. I think we need to work as communities and statewide to really support kids to kind of get back to a more typical way of functioning.

Frederica Freyberg:

Do you feel as though the general public and even families understand the extent of this problem that schools are seeing in their students?

Katie Johnson:

I don’t think they do. I think they expect that now that we’re back in face-to-face school, the time –things are just back to normal, and they are not understanding there’s real large systems differences in our schools now.

Frederica Freyberg:

How important are happy learners to their academic success?

Katie Johnson:

Well, we know we don’t learn very well unless our basic needs are met and we are comfortable. So for kids to be really calm and confident and feeling good about coming into the school day is really important. Those are some of the needs we need to meet before we can meet those academic needs.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what does that mean in the classroom for teachers, even outside the nurse’s office? How are teachers kind of addressing this and caring for that first before they even open a book?

Katie Johnson:

I think they are definitely doing more things to help kids adjust to the classroom, to help kids feel safe, to make sure kids’ basic needs are met there. They are caring for the whole student and not just teaching to their academic needs.

Frederica Freyberg:

In your mind, can these students that have weathered this recover from it?

Katie Johnson:

Absolutely. You know, I think kids will recover. Kids are resilient. Things change over time. Education changes. Society changes. This, too, shall pass, but I do think right now it’s really important for us to be doing the best we can to support kids, you know, and to pouring into mental health programs in our schools, to pouring into those before and after school programs. Anything that supports kids so that they have the best chance of bouncing back and getting back to whatever a new normal is.

Frederica Freyberg:

Do you have anticipation that that kind of — those kinds of resources or support will be forthcoming to the schools across Wisconsin?

Katie Johnson:

There have been resources we’ve been accessing to provide additional programming. It’s really important we continue to do that. There’s a shortage of school mental health providers, school psychologists among them, so we definitely want to keep pouring into that and creating more opportunities for kids to get those needed services.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Katie Johnson from Amery, we really appreciate your time.

Katie Johnson:

Thank you.