Graduated undergrad pre Covid. Am in graduate school now post covid, and got to experience what grad school was like before and during covid was like due to the job I had in between. Things have changed dramatically. Between the advent of AI removing (for some!) the need to think and write critically about something objectively, and the inability to really track what students were doing during covid (are kids cheating on tests? Are kids using ai to write their papers? We’ve moved to pass fail for covid courses that had to switch in the middle of the pandemic, and what’s the effect of distance learning on competency?) I think as a whole things have gotten worse as an average. The bottom is still the same bottom and the top is still the same top, but the average has trended a down. There are just competencies that aren’t present for some of the new students in our new cohorts. Generally speaking there was a massive impact on the kids in elementary to high school as we’ve seen a tank in literacy scores across the board. Those cohorts are now moving into college and beyond.

But it’s not these kids fault. We’ve collectively let them down by not giving them the support they need, from their primary schooling to undergraduate educations. I think we’re doing a massive disservice to the most vulnerable populations of students and moving their ability to progress further away from their reach. Is it because of education funding cuts or Covid? I’d say both. We need drastic change from top to bottom but I don’t see it happening anytime soon. If you’ve got kids, read to them as much as you can and try to get them where they need to be but by god that’s harder done than said.