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Historic Decline in Students’ Test Scores Following the COVID-19 Pandemic

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The United States Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona called the test scores a “wake-up” call after test results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed historical declines in math and reading scores for fourth graders and eighth graders, which Cardona has called “appalling and unacceptable.”
“The results in today’s Nation’s Report Card are appalling and unacceptable,” Cardona told reporters. “This is a moment of truth for education. How we respond to this will determine not only our recovery, but our nation’s standing in the world.”
Recent results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress exams (or the Nation’s Report Card) show a steep decline in math and reading scores among fourth graders and eighth graders. Peggy Carr, who is the National Center for Education Statistics Commissioner, said the math results were “historic” and the “largest decline in mathematics [the center] has observed in the entire history of this assessment.”
Average math scores for fourth graders fell five points lower than where they were in 2019, and eight points below test results in 2019 for eighth graders. This year’s “report card” shows math scores of 236 for fourth graders out of a possible 500, and a score of 274 for eighth graders. Average reading scores fell by three points for both grades compared to 2019, with fourth graders finishing with a score of 217, and eighth graders scoring 260.
“We’re not surprised to see that the math scores were going to take a bigger hit,” Carr said. “Math is just simply more sensitive to schooling. You really need good teachers to teach math. Reading, on the other hand, is something that parents and the community are more comfortable with helping students with.”
A restaurant chef gets their throat swab taken at a coronavirus testing site, Sunday, April 3, 2022, in Beijing. COVID-19 cases in China's largest city of Shanghai are still rising as millions remain isolated at home under a sweeping lockdown. - Sputnik International, 1920, 24.10.2022
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The poor test results are undoubtedly a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as students were pulled out of school for two years following the initial wave of the pandemic, causing them to fall behind in their studies.
“And let’s not forget that remote learning looks very differently all across the United States. The quality – all of the factors that were associated with implementing remote learning – it is extremely complex,” said Carr.
The gap between white students and Black and Hispanic students was also larger in 2022 than it was three years ago. Math scores among Black and Hispanic students were much worse than math scores among white students. Carr points out that even students who performed well on the prior to the pandemic showed lower test scores.
Pre-existing staff shortages were worsened by the pandemic as well, with the National Education Association (NEA) calling for teachers to receive better pay, better working conditions, better flexibility, and better safety measures. According to the NEA, the ratio of hires to job openings in education reached new lows during the 2021-2022 school year.
“The symptom of teacher shortages is a symptom of a lack of respect for the profession—that’s one part of it, but we also have to make sure that we’re utilizing our dollars for intervention programs and acceleration programs for our students after school, in summer school,” said Cardona.
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