A new study by the Nebraska Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights focused on two challenges: the digital divide and youth mental health. The study looked at how different social group such as rural students and low-income households navigated the pandemic.
It found that the pendemic exposed gaps in the digital divide, caused worker shortages in transportation, and had on onging detrimental impact on the mental health of students. The Nebraska Board of Education reported that there was a drop in proficiency scores of about 20% in both English language arts and math because of the pandemic and there was a 77% increase in chronic absenteeism in Nebraska because of the pandemic.
The study recommended that Nebraska addresses learning gaps that were exacerbated by the pandemic and create a mental health and learning loss task force.
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