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Pandemic learning loss didn't just hurt test scores — it crushed kids' attention spans

The pandemic wreaked havoc on the American education system, sending students home to try to learn often without solid internet, and with the distractions that come with not being in a classroom.

And now, data continues to bear out the results. It’s been termed "learning loss," and nationally, it looks like lower test scores in math and reading in several age groups across the country — and it’s been worse for students living in poverty.

But Torie Martin says it’s not just the education progress that’s been lost. It’s students’ ability to focus and their drive to learn.

Martin teaches geometry and algebra II to sophomores and juniors at Youngker High School in Buckeye, a Title I school where the majority of students qualify for free-and-reduced lunch.

She’s been in the classroom for seven years and said it’s exhausting work, but she is committed to doing it.

The Show spoke with her to learn about what she's been seeing from students' performance.

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Lauren Gilger, host of KJZZ's The Show, is an award-winning journalist whose work has impacted communities large and small, exposing injustices and giving a voice to the voiceless and marginalized.