U.S. students in most states and nearly all demographic groups are experiencing troubling setbacks in both math and reading, according to the prestigious national exam released Monday, which is the worst for millions of schoolchildren. It offers the most definitive indictment to date on the effects of the pandemic.
In mathematics, the results are particularly devastating, among the highest ever recorded in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the National Report Card, which tested a broad sampling of fourth and eighth graders and dates back to the early 1990s. represents the steepest decline.
Since the pandemic began, test-first results have seen 8th grade math scores drop in nearly every state. From her 34% in 2019, only 26% of eighth graders were proficient in English.
Grade 4 performance was marginally better, with 41 states declining. Fourth grade math proficient students decreased from 41% to just 36%.
Reading scores also dropped in more than half of the states, continuing a downward trend that began before the pandemic. No state had a significant improvement in reading comprehension. Also, only one of her three of her students met the proficiency standard. This means that our students have demonstrated their abilities and are well on their way to future success.
And for the country’s most vulnerable students, the pandemic has left them even more behind. In many cases the drop in test scores has been more pronounced and the climb to proficiency is now much more difficult.
“Let me be clear, the results on the country’s report card today are appalling and unacceptable,” said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. “This is a moment of truth for education. How we respond to it will determine not only our recovery, but our place in the world.”
Administered by federal officials and considered more rigorous than many state tests, the test sampled nearly 450,000 4th and 8th graders at over 10,000 schools between January and March. . Results are detailed for each state and over 20 large school districts.
The findings raise important questions about where the country goes from here. Last year, the federal government invested her largest $123 billion, or about $2,400 per student, in American schools to help students catch up. School districts were required to spend at least 20% of their funds on academic recovery, which some experts believe is insufficient for the magnitude of the problem.
Learn more about US schools and education
The funding is set to expire in 2024, and research suggests it could take billions more dollars and years for students to properly recover.
The test results could be seized just before the midterm elections as political fodder to revisit the debate over how long schools should remain closed. This is a question that has inspired many parents and teachers.
The dire results have highlighted how school closures are hurting students, but researchers are quick to conclude whether outcomes are significantly worse in states where schools have remained remote longer. issued a warning against issuing
Decisions on how long to close schools often varied, even within states, depending on local school districts and virus transmission rates. Other factors, such as poverty levels and state-specific education policies, may also influence results.
The paintings were mixed, and the performances varied by grade and subject matter and were not always clear-cut.
For example, in Texas, where many schools opened earlier, reading remained stable, but math fell as well as the national average.
California, which has stood out for its attention to reopening schools, saw scores drop slightly below the national average in several categories. According to his Burbio data for the school-tracking site, Los Angeles had been shut down longer than any other region in the country, but it was the only city that saw significant improvements in reading among eighth graders.
“It’s hard to compare states, people are more likely to go to red states, blue states, and that’s not the most useful framing,” said Sean Reardon, a professor of education at Stanford University. to answer.
math problem
Students today are doing better in math than they were 30 years ago. Over the past decade, math scores have been stable, with minor fluctuations here and there.
But this year, that stability was shattered.
In 8th grade math, the average score fell in all but one state. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia saw double-digit declines, including high-performing states such as Massachusetts and New Jersey and low-performing states such as Oklahoma and New Mexico. Utah was the only state where declines in 8th grade math were not considered statistically significant.
States such as Delaware, Maryland, and Washington, DC have seen double-digit declines in 4th and 8th grade mathematics.
Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, the Department of Education’s research arm that administers exams, said that “8th grade is the gateway to taking more advanced mathematics courses,” so older students was of particular concern. She said students may lack basic skills in algebra and geometry. You will need this in high school and for your future career in mathematics and science.
For example, compared to 2019, fewer 8th graders can measure the diagonal length of a rectangle or convert miles to yards.
Reading was less affected, probably because students received more support from their parents during the pandemic.
Matthew Chingos, who heads the Center for Education Data and Policy at the Urban Institute, a research group, said the national results suggest that math scores in general tend to be highly dependent on what is taught in schools. said to be consistent with other data. , on the other hand, reading the score also depends on “what happens at home.”
Reading nevertheless persisted, with significant declines in more than half the states in both grades. Reading skills also declined in many states in 2019.
sharp drop, wider gap
The pandemic has revealed deep and troubling inequalities that govern many aspects of American life, especially in education.
In fourth grade, students in the bottom 25th percentile lost more points than students at the top of their class in both math and reading, with poorer performers falling even further behind.
And black and Hispanic students who started behind their white and Asian peers experienced steeper declines in fourth-grade math than those groups.
Black and Hispanic students were more likely to attend segregated schools in poverty, and those schools stayed longer than wealthier schools during the pandemic, deepening the divide.
The impact was especially noticeable for struggling students. According to the survey included in the test, only half of her fourth graders who performed poorly in math said they always had access to a computer in the 2020-21 school year, compared to half of her high-achieving students. was 80%.
Similarly, 70% said they could work in a quiet location for at least some time, compared to 90% of high performers.
Most school districts in large cities, including New York City, Dallas, and Miami-Dade, had stable reading scores.
Raymond Hart, executive director of the Metropolitan School Council, which works with 77 urban public school districts, the largest in the nation, said this was a hopeful indication that relief districts in place could be making a difference. regarded as a sign. “I believe that recovery and recovery are possible in students,” he said.
But students in some districts, such as Cleveland and Memphis, could hardly afford to lose. Many were experiencing acute poverty and were already struggling with the pandemic, but this year saw significant declines in both grade levels and subjects.
In Detroit, where nearly one in two schoolchildren lives in poverty, just 6 percent of fourth graders were proficient in math in 2019. This year, that number has dropped to 3 percent of her.
So?
Test scores aren’t the only factor that matters to a child’s future, but research demonstrates the importance of starting schoolwork early.
Students who cannot read well in elementary school are more likely to drop out of high school or fail to graduate on time. And her ninth grade, which is now her eighth grade, which took exams in the spring, is seen as a crucial year for students to graduate from high school and go to college.
“Something needs to be done to better direct resources to historically underserved students,” said Dennis Forte, interim CEO of the Education Trust. ‘ said.
Much of the country’s hope for recovery rests on multi-billion dollar pandemic aid. But districts were given wide latitude to spend their money.
“Many school districts do not have a coordinated plan for math,” said Marguerite Rosa, director of the Department of Pedagogy at Georgetown University, which tracks pandemic relief spending. She’s one of those who think school districts should spend more than 20% of her relief money on school recovery.
Research shows that one option is simply to add more time. Frequent tutoring in small groups and doubling her math classes is one promising strategy.
Kevin Huffman, a former Tennessee school commissioner and now chief executive of Accelerate, a tutoring-focused nonprofit, told leaders about what went wrong during the pandemic. He urged them to stop blaming and instead make a “moral commitment” to helping students. Recover.
“As a country, we cannot declare 2019 to be the pinnacle of American education,” he said.