Silver lining in dark cloud: What did Corona do to our education system?

(This article authored by our CEO Reetu Gupta was originally published in Puget Sound Business Journal)

We are in unprecedented times and uncharted waters. COVID-19 has put our whole education system at test. Most schools across the country have shut down for rest of this school year. Did we ever imagine that pretty much the whole country will be homeschooling? Over 60 million K-12 students in US will be learning completely online? And teachers who have been teaching for decades in a classroom that didn’t even want to use smart whiteboards are now hosting and teaching on Zoom sessions?

The silver lining in this big dark cloud is that the education system that was assumed to be stuck in old century and slow to modernize, is suddenly a 21st century, high-tech, cutting-edge technology user. Yet there is something even more revolutionary happening because of COVID-19. Because of many standardized tests being cancelled, more and more colleges are going test-optional! A movement that started almost a decade ago and was 1,000 college strong; has made huge progress in last 30 days. About 20 colleges have gone test optional in last one month and the trend is continuing. Fair Test is a nonprofit organization that is promoting test-optional culture and tracks test-optional colleges.

Using SAT/ ACT as the major admissions decision maker by colleges always raised eyebrows. For one, single test score could never assess students’ potential for success in a college but more importantly, it led to inequities in higher education. Even today, at-risk youth go to college at almost 30% lower rate that typical kids and partially because they never take the test and never come on colleges’ radar. And financial situation is not the primary reason for this gap. Last year, $2.6 Billion in Pell grant went unclaimed, according to NerdWallet. Almost $3 Billion dollars! So, don’t tell me that financials are the primary reason for this gap.

Then, in early 2019, almost one year before COVID disruption, there was another disruption shook higher education – a college admission scandal, nicknamed as “Varsity Blue Scandal”. Rich parents were found guilty of bribing admission officers, coaches, and test center administrators to get their kids in highly selective colleges like Yale, Stanford, UCLA, USC and few more. How could they do that? Because most admissions were still relying on SAT/ACT as one measure and these rich parents had to just manipulate that ONE number – SAT/ ACT test score!  And that wasn’t hard at all. The Varsity Blue Scandal exposed the very shaky grounds of SAT/ACT causing an uproar to go test optional.

In an era where the SAT/ACT are already under scrutiny as to their validity and fairness in evaluation of candidates, could the added challenge of COVID-19 be the final nail in the coffin of this 94-year old methodology? Lots of standardized tests have been cancelled in wake of the lock down, prevalent pretty much across the country. Hence current high school juniors, high school class of 2021, have a very limited opportunity to take SAT/ACT. It is highly likely that all standardized testing will get cancelled across the nation. We already know that colleges will be struggling with enrollment for next 2-3 years due to COVID-19 that has upended millions of families and causing an unemployment rate that may get to great-depression levels. Students all over the country are rethinking their college plans. Colleges have no choice but to remove as much friction as they can for students to apply. Otherwise, they cease to exist due to financial troubles.  

Paul Romer, Stanford economist once said – “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste”. From an education perspective, both K-12 as well as higher education, I think COVID-19 crisis will bear fruits of revolution that would have taken decade to happen at its original rate. COVID-19 has brought our education system to a new age of digital economy. Even though it took 20 years of the 21st century and a pandemic, but US education system is finally in the 21st century. We are glad to see that we did not waste a crisis and brought one lagging industry, that matters the most for our future, into the present and future.

I’m sure as always, we will come out of this situation better and stronger. Hard times are testing times, that shape us as people, a society, a nation, and even world. I remember whole nation felt numb after 9/11 and look at us almost 2 decades later – the safest country in the world! COVID-19 will make us a country with a robust healthcare system, advanced and cutting-edge education system, and a healthy economy. We are all in this together and we are stronger together.