Education Basic Training

The Brookings Institute made it very clear in one of its most recent studies it conducted in the fall of 2020 which focused on the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on student learning. The study focused primarily on the general population of young learners, their parents and educators.

Key findings of the study: severe learning gaps have been created in mathematics and in reading for elementary and middle school students; underserved community populations will overwhelmingly realize deeper impacts.

According to The Brooking’s Institute’s research, “[v]irtual-only learning during the 2019-2020 academic year may have reduced reading gains by 30% and math gains by 50% compared with normal in-person learning, the research team found. These effects probably vary significantly across household income, given differences in access to computer equipment, a quiet space to study, and adequate nutrition outside school. Preliminary evidence suggests that low-income students are often not logging on during virtual instruction.”

The impacts of Covid-19 on underserved communities were not substantially addressed in the study; however, the negative impacts are projected to be similar if not worse than those experienced by school age students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Underserved communities have historically lacked in the ownership of computing devices, Internet access, sufficient instruction, tools and classroom materials.

According to the Southern Education Foundation, “[w]hile school closures affect all students, students from underserved communities feel this impact even greater.” Going further to state, “[d]ata on digital disparities reveal that nearly 20 percent of African American children ages 3-18 and 21 percent of families earning less than $40,000 per year have no access to the internet at home.”

The yet to be measured negative impacts of Covid-19 on underserved communities and the consequences therefrom, create a need for immediate action.

Brookings sounds the alarm, specifically, “[o]ur models cannot account for the reality that the crisis [has had] an unequal impact on our most underserved communities.” Further stating, “the effects of COVID-19 our study cannot examine may be the ones most worthy of addressing.”

Last Miles, founded to bring direct impact reducing relief to underserved communities, directly intervenes with desperately needed impact relief that includes the provisioning of educational skills loss stop-gap measures designed specifically for the underserved community and provide necessary tools, computing devices, broadband access and basic education skills development support to contribute to the rapid recovery and success of school age students within our underserved communities.

Your donation positively impacts a last mile for a young learner within our underserved communities. As a result of your contribution, broadband Internet access, digital computing devices, educational support and nutrition basics have become a reality for so many that have been underserved historically.

Thank you