How can higher ed stop the bleeding from K12 learning loss?

As signs of the enrollment cliff loom, higher education is trying its darndest to resuscitate interest and value in a college education. However, getting enough high school graduates through the door may only be half the battle. Pandemic-related learning loss means students may be less prepared than ever for the rigor of postsecondary and workforce pipeline planning.

Since the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) published its seminal December 2020 findings on K12 learning loss, researchers have returned with the latest recommendations for higher ed leaders on how they can tackle incoming students’ needs.

“Even if enrollments appear to stabilize after pandemic lows, declines in elementary and secondary school learning and proficiency may present additional future challenges for postsecondary education,” the latest report reads.

While the K12 sphere has been able to leverage billions of dollars in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding to make up for lost ground with varying degrees of success, it has yet to overturn troubling assessment scores in such a short time frame. Standardized test scores have recently hit a 30-year low, and learning drops across the National Assessment of Educational Progress and other metrics have yet to turn around.

Chronic absenteeism, decreased attendance, bus transportation issues, and teacher and superintendent turnover are a few of the intangible issues WICHE found plaguing K12 that money can’t fix.

In the near term, college leaders should expect high schoolers to show less interest in advanced course-taking. In the medium and long term, WICHE predicts that current elementary and middle school students will be less prepared for postsecondary education.

More from UB: Despite hype, short-term certificates & skill-based hiring are underperforming

5 ways leaders can help stymie continued K12 learning loss

1. Expand communication pipelines: Seek the most current and comprehensive data at the state, district, local and school levels on school assessment results, along with college-going information by student demographic. Be up to date on students’ readiness challenges as early as the middle school level by encouraging communication between states, institutions, families, schools and districts.
2. Get involved with K12 students: Alleviate current K12 learning loss by offering tutoring at the school and district levels.
3. Reevaluate traditional K12-higher ed onramps: Current recruitment, admissions and scholarship and other related financial aid modalities used to pool students will need to be updated to reflect the needs of historically disadvantaged groups with the most to lose from the pandemic’s disruption.
4. Expand student support for recently enrolled students
5. Consider homeschooled students: With the shift to homeschooling, colleges and universities must shift their lens to understand how to identify and recruit talent outside the traditional K12 system.