Reading and Math Scores Plummeted During Pandemic, New Data Show; Roughly 1/3 of Nation’s Largest School Districts to Keep Remote Learning Option from COVID, and other C-Virus related stories

Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

WSJ: Reading and Math Scores Plummeted During Pandemic, New Data Show:

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.

The test scores indicate a learning deficit that could resonate for years and weigh on economic output. Scientists compare the shadow cast by the pandemic to the lifelong imprint left on the children of the Great Depression. While some children will become stronger and more resilient adults, many who fall behind academically at this age will continue to lag, leaving them at risk for increased struggles across their lifetime.

The scores of lower-performing students are most troubling and could take decades to bounce back, said Dr. Aaron Pallas, professor of Sociology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

“I don’t think we can expect to see these 9-year-olds catch up by the time they leave high school,” he said, referring to the lower-performing students. “This is not something that is going to disappear quickly.”

Average scores in reading for 2022 declined to 215 out of a possible 500, falling five points from 2020. Math scores fell seven points, to 234. The results mark the largest drop in reading scores since 1990 and the first statistically significant decline in math scores since the math portion of the test began in 1973. Math and reading scores for the exam are now at their lowest levels since the 1990s. --->READ MORE HERE

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Roughly 1/3 of nation’s largest school districts to keep remote learning option from COVID:

Roughly a third of big city school districts in the US are keeping virtual programs created during the COVID-19 pandemic in place this school year, according to new research released Monday.

Another third of large districts are ditching remote learning altogether, researchers from the Center on Reinventing Public Education, a non-profit research center at Arizona State University.

“Students in remote learning suffered more academic consequences than students in person. That said, there were also students in remote learning who flourished,” said Bree Dusseault, whose new review was first published by the non-profit news site The 74 Million.

“It may not be a universal solution for all students — but enough districts saw promise for certain cohorts of students,” Dusseault told The Post.

The remainder of the nation’s 100 largest districts — which make up 20% of all public school students — will continue offering remote learning options that pre-dated the virus.

The data suggests that though big city school districts are more likely to offer a remote alternative than not, most have scrapped the COVID-era distance options that were cobbled together, then rejigged, multiple times during the pandemic. --->READ MORE HERE

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