One Year into the Pandemic: Parents Are More Engaged, Less Certain of Their Child’s Academic Achievement

For the past year, the nation’s focus has been centered on how students have been navigating the pandemic, given the shift to remote learning, possible learning loss, and transitioning back into the classroom, among other challenges. But what about parents? How are they feeling about the educational upheaval that came with COVID-19?

A newly released survey from Corporation grantees National PTA and Learning Heroes brings parental perceptions of learning during the pandemic to the forefront, highlighting their biggest concerns for their children, and how they are feeling about academics and assessments during the unprecedented events of the past year. While the responses from the 1,550 parents and guardians across the U.S who were surveyed show that involvement with their children’s education has increased — so has their stress.

A few key insights from the Corporation-funded survey A Year into the Pandemic: Parents’ Perspectives on Academics, State Assessments, and Education finds that 60 percent of parents worry their child is not making the kind of academic progress they would during a typical year, even though half of parents say learning has improved since schools first shifted to remote instruction last spring. The fact that parents are growing more concerned could actually be a good thing. According to Adam Burns, a researcher involved with the survey, parents have consistently overestimated academic achievement for years; with nine in 10 parents saying they believed their child was at or above their grade level. That percentage, according to Burns, is “inconsistent with reality,” so the fact that parents are now reporting lower confidence in their child’s academic progress could mean they’ve been paying more attention to what their child is actually learning and retaining. Indeed, only a slim majority (52 percent) of surveyed parents report they’re confident that their child will be well prepared for the start of the next grade in fall 2021.

In light of these findings, National PTA and Learning Heroes advise teachers and education leaders to keep the lines of communication open, acknowledge the roller coaster ride parents have been on with their children, continually share important info, listen to parents’ opinions around summer learning, and focus year-end assessments on helping students rather the penalizing them.