According to research, millennials (Gen Y) are the most educated generation in American history. Approximately 38 percent of millennials have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 32 percent of Generation X and 15 percent of baby boomers when they were the same age.
Gen Z Born between 1995 and 2010, they account for a third of the world’s population. Referred to as “digital natives”, they are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation and are forecast to be the most well educated.
A Pew Research study revealed that in 2021, the most recent year with available data, 39% of 21-year-olds were working full time, compared with 64% in 1980. And only a quarter of people this age in 2021 were financially independent of their parents – meaning that their income was at least 150% of the poverty line – compared with 42% in 1980.
What specific strategies or interventions can be implemented to address the decline in academic progress and the increase in youth mental health issues?
A 2015 RAND Corporation study of 62 public schools found that personalized learning approaches improved academic progress. But research also suggests that teachers in schools that already perform well on standardized tests do a better job of implementing personalized learning than those in lower-performing schools (Lee, D., et al., Education Technology Research and Development, Vol. 69, No. 2, 2021). Psychological science is helping educators better parse those findings, Barnes said, by accounting for the way school context interacts with student outcomes.
Ninety-four percent of students enrolled in CTE (Career and Technical Education) programs graduate, compared with just 85% of students at traditional high schools.
Enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities peaked in 2010 and has been on a steady decline since and more than a quarter of students in K-12 schools are now chronically absent. Certainly, many factors are at play here ranging from mental health issues and a pandemic hangover to technological disruption and a series of education policy debacles. But the ultimate culprit of our discontent may be the hardest of all to acknowledge and address. The brutal reality is that education isn’t exciting, engaging or relevant for far too many students.
Academic progress has been hindered by the pandemic and has not yet made a full recovery. However, the significant declines in test scores and widening achievement gaps are just a portion of the issue.Academic progress stalled during the pandemic and has yet to recover. But historic declines in test scores and growing achievement gaps are just part of the problem. Youth mental health issues surged; behavioral problems increased; and more teachers left the profession—creating a situation many are calling alarming.
