After almost a year of being out of school, in a different school, or in no school at all, children and parents are embracing the opportunity to return to in-person instruction full time. Underneath all that enthusiasm, however, is an important yet unanswered question: how much learning have students lost because of the pandemic? Results from recent snapshots of student progress are not encouraging. Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt has reported 23% of North Carolina school district students are at risk for academic failure and haven’t made sufficient progress to be promoted to the next grade. The number of students reaching proficiency in math, biology, and third grade reading has declined, and the declines cross all racial/ethnic and socioeconomic lines. Moreover, the percentage of students who fail to reach proficiency increased from 42% in 2019 to 54% in 2020.