Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

mahatmakanejeeves

(56,890 posts)
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 08:37 AM Sep 2022

Reading and Math Scores Plummeted During Pandemic, New Data Show

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

U.S.* EDUCATION

Reading and Math Scores Plummeted During Pandemic, New Data Show

Fourth-grade scores for worst performers could take decades to rebound and affect economy in the future, experts say

By Ben Chapman and Douglas Belkin
https://twitter.com/chapmanreports
ben.chapman@wsj.com
https://twitter.com/dougbelkin
Doug.Belkin@wsj.com
Updated Sept. 1, 2022 8:25 am ET

The Education Department’s first look at test-score trends since the pandemic began reveals the worst drop in math and reading scores in decades for students in fourth grade, a crucial indicator for educational and economic trajectory.

Scores released Thursday show unprecedented drops on the long-term trends tests that are part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” The tests are administered to U.S. students age 9.

{snip}

Read more: Link to source



The first national test-score trend data released in the pandemic era show the worst drop in reading proficiency in decades and first drop in math in 50 years for fourth-graders, a crucial indicator how students will fare in school and adulthood

wsj.com
Reading and Math Scores Plummeted During Pandemic, New Data Show
The Education Department’s first look at test-score trends since Covid began reveals unprecedented drops for fourth-grade students, a crucial indicator for




27 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Reading and Math Scores Plummeted During Pandemic, New Data Show (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Sep 2022 OP
Hmm. My kiddo was a 4th Dr. Shepper Sep 2022 #1
Same here. Both of my kids (7th Grader and 2nd Grader at the start of the Pandemic)... SKKY Sep 2022 #15
Absolutely give credit my husband too Dr. Shepper Sep 2022 #18
Not surprising Baggies Sep 2022 #2
I honestly think it depends on the kid. I learned more at home reading every book in the house Demsrule86 Sep 2022 #10
non-paywalled article: muriel_volestrangler Sep 2022 #3
Thanks. I think this is going to be a big deal on the nightly TV news. NT mahatmakanejeeves Sep 2022 #5
National test scores plunge during the pandemic mahatmakanejeeves Sep 2022 #4
Ya I know this the hard way GusBob Sep 2022 #6
I'm going to predict that no one will extrapolate anything about the importance of the role Scrivener7 Sep 2022 #7
Absolutely right. At a time when teachers are sorely needed, Republicans are forcing many Lonestarblue Sep 2022 #12
+1 ProfessorGAC Sep 2022 #22
It depends on the student's learning style IronLionZion Sep 2022 #8
The study refers to 4th graders not adults. MichMan Sep 2022 #14
Yes, it wasn't an option when I was in 4th grade IronLionZion Sep 2022 #17
'I didn't really learn anything': COVID grads face college dalton99a Sep 2022 #9
Students should have never been promoted if they didn't learn the material MichMan Sep 2022 #13
Unfortunately Jimbo S Sep 2022 #21
HS math teacher here... jcgoldie Sep 2022 #11
Plus, The Teachers I Know... ProfessorGAC Sep 2022 #24
A lot of professors don't have Zoom classes. Sympthsical Sep 2022 #27
So we can conclude that Tik Tok isn't a good substitute for classroom time and books... bhikkhu Sep 2022 #16
And that's with a ton of ESSR funding there to "close the gap." Igel Sep 2022 #19
Many children simply disappeared during the pandemic. hunter Sep 2022 #20
On That Subject... ProfessorGAC Sep 2022 #25
Duh...but teachers aren't important to too many out there. nt Samrob Sep 2022 #23
This week in No Shit News Sympthsical Sep 2022 #26

Dr. Shepper

(3,012 posts)
1. Hmm. My kiddo was a 4th
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 08:42 AM
Sep 2022

Grader 2020-2021. She thrived in distance learning. That said, many of her peers didn’t and she says she never wants to go back to virtual again.

SKKY

(11,771 posts)
15. Same here. Both of my kids (7th Grader and 2nd Grader at the start of the Pandemic)...
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 10:12 AM
Sep 2022

Last edited Thu Sep 1, 2022, 02:04 PM - Edit history (1)

...absolutely thrived. Now, that's all my wife's fault because she did a great job managing both of them and keeping them on task. So, I imagine if a family doesn't have that luxury, they probably would suffer. I think part of the problem that doesn't get talked about a lot is the fact that most teachers are not really set up to be able to effectively teach in a remote environment.

Dr. Shepper

(3,012 posts)
18. Absolutely give credit my husband too
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 01:59 PM
Sep 2022

He is an educator and stayed home with her for that year. Schools were open here (ND) while she and a minority of students remained virtual. She is still at the top of her classes. I think it comes down to opportunity and parents/guardians with teaching skills who could stay on top of things.

If the pandemic would have hit when I was her age, I would definitely have failed a grade (or two). My mom worked all the time and left alone I never would have even logged in.

Demsrule86

(68,348 posts)
10. I honestly think it depends on the kid. I learned more at home reading every book in the house
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 09:07 AM
Sep 2022

then I did in elementary school. My Dad taught me to read in the second grade (I was behind as phonics was a disaster for me)I hated school and used to wait until my Mother went to work and sneak back into the house...I was eight years old. I have ADHD...no one knew what it was back then. I was very lucky to have a teacher who recognized my problems and helped me learn. I had a 3rd and 4th-grade teacher who had seen it before and she saved me. She taught me how to deal with this problem. I resisted as I didn't want to stay after school for extra help or what have you. I remember sneaking out one afternoon and the teacher brought my work home and told my mother, I had 'forgotten' it.

That was it...from there it got better I graduated from high school and went on to college. My life was forever changed for the better because of Mrs. Hannaford who taught in Oak Park Illinois. Computers arrived when I was in college and they were a great equalizer for those of us who have learning disabilities. As an aside, I was diagnosed in college with ADHD. I do not take medicine as I hate it and manage it with diet and have learned to organize myself over the years.

mahatmakanejeeves

(56,890 posts)
4. National test scores plunge during the pandemic
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 08:49 AM
Sep 2022
National test scores plunge during the pandemic

By Donna St. George
September 1, 2022 at 12:01 a.m. EDT

Test scores in elementary school math and reading plummeted to levels unseen for decades, according to the first nationally representative report comparing student achievement from just before the pandemic to performance two years later.

Math scores dropped seven points during that period, marking a first-ever decline, while reading scores slipped five points, producing the largest dip in 30 years on the National Assessment for Educational Progress, or NAEP, often called “the nation’s report card.” The students who took the tests — given from January to March in 2020 and in 2022 — were 9 years old and mostly in fourth grade.



“These results are sobering,” said Peggy G. Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the tests. “It’s clear that covid-19 shocked American education and stunted the academic growth of this age group.” ... The falloff — which she called “historic” — left little doubt about the pandemic’s toll. The average math score of 234 this year was comparable to the average score recorded in 1999, and the reading score of 215 was similar to the 2004 score. How long it might take to catch up is unclear and not likely to be understood until further test results are analyzed.

{snip}

NAEP tests are a congressionally authorized project, sponsored by the Department of Education and administered through its statistical arm, the NCES.

By Donna St. George
Donna St. George writes about education for The Washington Post, where she has been a reporter since 1998. She previously worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer and the New York Times. Twitter https://twitter.com/donnastgeorge

GusBob

(7,286 posts)
6. Ya I know this the hard way
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 08:58 AM
Sep 2022

We thought maybe kids were going blind First and second graders

Turns out they didn’t know their letters and could not recognize them on the eye chart. The saddest thing is how ashamed they are when you figure it out and switch to the picture chart

My teacher friends tell me it’s a nightmare, the bright kids who kept learning virtually are now being held back by those who fell behind, and there are far more of them

It’s worse because these are Native American Rez kids, already starting on the dispossession path without COVID

Scrivener7

(50,773 posts)
7. I'm going to predict that no one will extrapolate anything about the importance of the role
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 09:01 AM
Sep 2022

of teachers from this.

This is an example of the effect of "teacher/parent partnership." Teacher parent partnership has been vaunted for years as a plus, but has had the effect of making many parents decide they know better than teachers how to teach.

They don't. Teachers are professionals who have been trained in effective methods that make a difference. Parents can help with this, certainly, but when they start dictating policies and methods, things go bad fast.

Lonestarblue

(9,880 posts)
12. Absolutely right. At a time when teachers are sorely needed, Republicans are forcing many
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 09:57 AM
Sep 2022

of them to leave the classroom because they’re tired of stupid politicians telling them what and how to teach. Having too few teachers exacerbates the problem because class sizes increase to compensate. No teacher can be as effective with a class of 35-40 as with a class of 20. We need to get the white evangelicals and state Republican politicians out of education. Let them go destroy something else, which is all they ever do.

ProfessorGAC

(64,414 posts)
22. +1
Fri Sep 2, 2022, 03:31 PM
Sep 2022

Now, that I've seen it from the inside (Been subbing since I retired; this is my 4th year) the vast majority of teachers know what the heck they're doing.
Even as a sub, I can tell which kids have parents who are involved & which have parents who think they should be in charge.
You can guess which group of kids is more self-motivated & serious about school.

IronLionZion

(45,256 posts)
8. It depends on the student's learning style
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 09:04 AM
Sep 2022

As an adult, I took plenty of training online because I had more free time and there were more options during the pandemic. It worked out for me.

dalton99a

(81,065 posts)
9. 'I didn't really learn anything': COVID grads face college
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 09:06 AM
Sep 2022
https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-race-and-ethnicity-milwaukee-5ab5394b2513e7136b9b854355770a1a

‘I didn’t really learn anything’: COVID grads face college
By COLLIN BINKLEY
August 9, 2022

Angel Hope looked at the math test and felt lost. He had just graduated near the top of his high school class, winning scholarships from prestigious colleges. But on this test — a University of Wisconsin exam that measures what new students learned in high school — all he could do was guess.

It was like the disruption of the pandemic was catching up to him all at once.

Nearly a third of Hope’s high school career was spent at home, in virtual classes that were hard to follow and easy to brush aside. Some days he skipped school to work extra hours at his job. Some days he played games with his brother and sister. Other days he just stayed in bed.

Algebra got little of his attention, but his teachers kept giving him good grades amid a school-wide push for leniency.

“It was like school was optional. It wasn’t a mandatory thing,” said Hope, 18, of Milwaukee. “I feel like I didn’t really learn anything.”

MichMan

(11,787 posts)
13. Students should have never been promoted if they didn't learn the material
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 10:04 AM
Sep 2022

"Algebra got little of his attention, but his teachers kept giving him good grades amid a school-wide push for leniency "

He should have failed and been forced to repeat the grade instead of being promoted along. Now he is going to have to pay $$$ to take remedial classes in college. Someone needs to be held accountable.

Jimbo S

(2,953 posts)
21. Unfortunately
Fri Sep 2, 2022, 12:50 PM
Sep 2022

this happens a lot in Milwaukee, I believe. Not only virtual, but also IRL.

The article doesn't mention the high school he attended. In recent years, Milwaukee has exploded with charter, choice and for-profit schools to go along with the public schools.

I agree with your post.

ProfessorGAC

(64,414 posts)
24. Plus, The Teachers I Know...
Fri Sep 2, 2022, 04:17 PM
Sep 2022

..mostly hated online teaching. I'm just a math & science sub, but after 4 years I know a bunch of teachers.
I can't think of one who actually liked Zoom/Google Meet teaching.
And, I'd say more actively hated it than those that were merely OK with it.
I know I hated it, and I only had to do it a couple days a week in the cold months. (A couple exceptions where I took 1 to 2 week assignments for medical leave.)
It would have driven me batty if it was 5 days a week for 9 months.

Sympthsical

(8,935 posts)
27. A lot of professors don't have Zoom classes.
Tue Sep 6, 2022, 07:45 PM
Sep 2022

A lot of it is asynchronous. They give you the material, some video lectures, some written assignments, and it's all due on a day of the week - typically Sunday night.

I did have one mandatory Zoom class for anatomy, because you do kind of have to see and it's better to have a live professor interacting with that sort of thing. A chemistry professor would do live tutorial/problem sessions on Monday mornings that were optional.

Online class in college really is, "It's up to you. Learn it. Don't. Whatever."

I actually do prefer my classes online since I work from home and the flexibility really helps. I do my homework early in the morning or late evening much of the time. Or even just between work calls. This semester, I have a microbiology course and lab that I have to be on campus for. Which is understandable, but wrapping my work around it is a thing.

But I'm also an adult with responsibilities, motivated to do it, and paying for it. Kids are different. They need a lot more structure than was offered by the schools during the pandemic.

In my classes the past two years, you see the effects. 18 year olds and 19 year olds barely making any effort at all on the written/group assignments and discussions. I keep wondering if they think three or four sentences on an assignment that should have one or two entire pages is sufficient. Is this just what they've gotten used to with online education? Just as long as they say something, it counts? Because I know my professors aren't having it. I've spoken to a few, and they're totally baffled by the crop of new students they've been getting.

bhikkhu

(10,708 posts)
16. So we can conclude that Tik Tok isn't a good substitute for classroom time and books...
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 10:17 AM
Sep 2022

Having come up through school in the 70's, I'm still skeptical of the long term effects of all kinds of aspects of modern society. Not that we can do a lot about them. Between the right wing emphasis on deliberate ignorance as a virtue, and the general screen addiction of most of the population, well,,,it's easy to get cynical.

Igel

(35,191 posts)
19. And that's with a ton of ESSR funding there to "close the gap."
Thu Sep 1, 2022, 07:17 PM
Sep 2022

If ESSR money made any difference at all, that is.

hunter

(38,264 posts)
20. Many children simply disappeared during the pandemic.
Fri Sep 2, 2022, 12:11 PM
Sep 2022

They didn't have parents or child care providers who could support remote learning.

Our local high school students all have Chromebooks but there were too many who didn't have internet connections at home or parents making sure they kept up with schoolwork.

When I was teaching many years ago assigning homework was school policy. I had students who never did homework. Talking to their parents was futile, if you could even get hold of them. What chewed me up inside were the kids whose living situations were so unstable it wasn't reasonable to assign them homework. School was the only stable environment they had, the only place where they could have a peaceful moment to themselves, the only place where they got consistent meals.

ProfessorGAC

(64,414 posts)
25. On That Subject...
Fri Sep 2, 2022, 04:21 PM
Sep 2022

I did a couple 2 week stints subbing 6-8 science during COVID. School is in farm country.
There were a couple kids whose parents would have preferred their kids to be remote, but couldn't because they couldn't get internet with the bandwidth to do it.
I'd guess that's an issue here & there, all around the country.

Sympthsical

(8,935 posts)
26. This week in No Shit News
Tue Sep 6, 2022, 07:34 PM
Sep 2022

I'm still salty about many of my nephews' teachers during the pandemic. Half of them behaved like they were on vacation.

I know some people like to deify the profession, but it is one staffed by human beings like any other job. You'll get some really good ones and others who are barely earning the paycheck.

I think the pandemic really differentiated these out. You could tell which teachers had the passion for making sure their students learned and which ones were happy to Netflix binge for nearly a year, vaguely interrupted by giving out YouTube assignments.

Kids lost progress - particularly younger children who also lost valuable early childhood socialization skill in that mess. We still haven't parsed out the long term effects of isolation and depression on developing minds.

We'll be paying for this for years. It was a bad decision to keep them out for so long, largely motivated by guidance that ended up getting discarded, and - it feels like to me - ideological ardor over doing what was best for children.

I'll never not be furious about what I saw while observing my nephews' education during that. The schools only reopened because the parents (here in very blue California) put the fear of God into the school board about what was happening with their kids' education.

Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»Reading and Math Scores P...