The logic goes, there was learning loss during the 2020-21 school year, so we need to spend time remediating that loss during the 2021-22 school year, thus not teaching all of the things we would regularly teach. If we accept this phrase, and the thinking behind it, we run the risk of lower expectations for students. Has there been learning loss? Are the 6th graders now reading like 3 rd graders? Did students forget all that they knew? Unlikely. We have been lamenting the phrase “learning loss” since we first heard it in June 2020. He has published numerous articles on teaching and learning as well as books such as The Teacher Clarity Playbook, PLC+, Visible Learning for Literacy, Comprehension: The Skill, Will, and Thrill of Reading, How Tutoring Works, and most recently, How Learning Works : Previously, Doug was an early-intervention teacher and elementary school educator.

ĭouglas Fisher, Ph.D., is also a professor of educational leadership at San Diego State and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High. Her published titles include Visible Learning in Literacy, This Is Balanced Literacy, Removing Labels, and Rebound. She is a member of the International Literacy Association’s Literacy Research Panel. Nancy Frey, Ph.D., is a professor in educational leadership at San Diego State University and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. I have previously shared my recommendations on accelerated learning at The Kind of Teaching Kids Need Right Now. Today, Nancy Frey, Ph.D., and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D., share their response. This column is the latest in a series offering suggestions to teachers, principals, and district administrators on how to respond to this year’s challenges. What is accelerated learning? What are specific accelerated learning strategies, and do they have a place in the classroom this year and in the future?

Visible learning for literacy