Will students ever catch up on 2020's lost learning?

Sarah Duggan

By Sarah Duggan
Published December 7, 2020

The question burned in the back of our minds, and yet nobody had an answer that was entirely certain: just how deep were the learning losses going to be this year?

Julie Sonnemann and her team produced a report that suggested intensive tuition programs run out of regular school hours needed to be a critical part of the national COVID response agenda.

The effect the almost violent shift to remote learning would have – and on this kind of scale – had ...

This story appeared in the December 2020 edition of Australian Teacher Magazine.

Behavioural Support Assistant

Veritas East London

Teaching Aides & Special Needs / Jul 21, 2026

Casual Educator

Story House Early Learning Chinderah Chinderah NSW

Explore how we enhance and support our Story House-ers at our Chinderah service, proudly certified as a Great Place to Work!

Childcare & Outside School Hours Care / Jul 21, 2026

Early Childhood Teacher

Story House Early Learning Stones Corner QLD

Explore how we enhance and support our Story House-ers at our Glenmore Park service, proudly certified as a Great Place to Work!

Teaching - Early childhood / Jul 21, 2026

School news / Teacher strike to go ahead: More than half of Vic AEU members reject Govt’s latest offer

The full-day teachers’ strike slated to take place in Melbourne this Thursday will go ahead, with news Victorian union members have voted to reject the Government’s latest pay and conditions offer.

School news / Calling school support a ‘slush fund’ is offensive to students who need it most

Calling a government program a “slush fund” might be powerful rhetoric, but it is a poor substitute for considering the positive impact that program has delivered for families and students in need.

School news / Golden discovery: lost readers from Whitlam years provide living record of an Indigenous language

Back in 2010, Vivien Johnson and Samantha Disbray were working in the remote desert community of Papunya, way out west of Alice Springs.

School news / ISA campaigns for bigger slice of govt funding, AEU says public funding should be for public ed

Independent Schools Australia (ISA) has launched a major new national campaign, it says, to put parents, school choice and affordability at the centre of education policy.

School news / Call for calm: school knife search powers ruled out after stabbings

School safety fears triggered by two stabbings in as many days are being played down as the Queensland Government rules out expanding knife search powers.

School news / STEM’s big challenge: we risk losing students from science and tech careers by age 11

A divide between reality and rhetoric in prioritising STEM in secondary schooling is very much the case, new research suggests.

School news / Vic Govt bypasses union with pay offer in last ditch attempt to halt school strike action

A last-minute Victorian Government deal seeking to avert a major public school strike next week has been slammed by the state’s key education union.

School news / Timely conversation: system ‘failing’ youth on intimate partner violence

Young people experiencing intimate partner violence are being failed by a system that lacks behavioural change programs targeting boys.

School news / Alarm bells: the maths skills gap impacting our next gen of sparkies and energy workers

As Australia races towards a clean energy future, a concerning maths skills gap is emerging that could impact the next generation of electricians and energy workers.

School news / The science of learning and GenAI align in new guide for secondary teachers

A pioneering new guide for secondary teachers has brought together the science of learning and AI in the classroom, aiming to ensure students’ thinking is actually extended and not outsourced to the technology.

Comments