The State of the American Student

As we start a new year, it might be a good idea to figure out where we are when it comes to offering our young learners an effective and efficient learning system.

This past fall, the Center on Reinventing Public Education released a second State of the American Student, a report that provides basic data on U.S. students’ progress toward academic recovery and mental wellness, as well as indicators of the overall health of the system, including data on teachers, enrollment, and finances.

The authors of this report write in their executive summary:

“Three years after the start of the pandemic, Covid-19 is continuing to derail learning, but in more insidious and hidden ways. Things are far from normal, even though students are back in school.”

“As we reported in the first State of the American Student report in September 2022, pandemic school closures led to unprecedented academic setbacks for American students. They exacerbated preexisting inequalities and accelerated the youth mental health crisis. At the same time, we documented pandemic bright spots, innovations, and discoveries that could allow us to overcome the underlying rigidities, inequalities, and dysfunctions that have long plagued U.S. public education and that revealed themselves disastrously during the pandemic.”

“We called on state and local leaders to get serious about using data to identify students with the steepest learning losses and to track and publicly report on academic recovery efforts. One year later, several states are setting a new precedent for transparency and accountability, including Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia. Texas, Tennessee, and Colorado have launched admirable tutoring efforts. These are important starts, but more is needed to meet this moment.”

…

“Although they were back in school this year, the kids are still not alright:

• On the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), math and reading scores for fourth and eighth grade students reached record lows in 2022. One-third of students in both grades can’t read at even the ‘basic’ achievement level – the lowest level on the test.
• 16 million students were chronically absent (i.e., missed more than 10% of school days) during the 2021-22 school year, twice as many as in previous years, according to Attendance Works.
• More than 8 in 10 public schools reported stunted behavioral and social-emotional development in their students because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the May 2022 IES Pulse survey. Nearly half reported and increase in threats of physical attacks among students.”

“Of the greatest concern are older students who have the least time to catch up. This year, we pay special attention to the state of students who are nearing graduation or have already graduated from high school. They have had the least time to get back on track and deserve our urgent attention. As of this writing, four graduating classes of high school students have been affected by the pandemic, approximately 13.5 million students. Although the peculiarities of our testing system mean we know less about these students than their younger counterparts, we do know too many are struggling academically, socially, and emotionally. Especially alarming indicators include:

• ACT college admission scores are the lowest since 1991 (19.8 average).
• It will take the average eighth grader 7.4 months to catch up to pre-pandemic levels in reading and 9.1 months in math, according to NWEA.
• While graduation rates are up, so is grade inflation, making it likely that many students exited the system unprepared for college and careers.
• 57% of teenage girls in the U.S. felt persistently sad or hopeless, and 30% seriously considered suicide, according to the CDC’s 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary and Trends Report.
• Undergraduate enrollment at public universities and community colleges dropped 7% from 2019 to 2023, with enrollment in two-year colleges declining the most dramatically.”

“Inequities continue to grow. Although national data are scarce, state and local data on the state of older students are alarming. On just about every indicator (including NAEP scores, course grades, absenteeism, grade retention, and mental health challenges), the negative impacts of the pandemic are worse for more vulnerable students.”

“The traditional pathways to college and careers were already not working for too many students. The pandemic made everything worse.”

“Our K-12 education system leaves to chance almost every aspect of the transition from high school to college or careers. Most students are on their own to discover their interests and talents and to select a career pathway aligned to them. Few receive guidance on how to change careers and reenter training or postsecondary education programs when their interests and priorities shift. Not surprisingly, students and families are increasingly questioning the value of a high-tuition, four-year degree.”

Not a pretty picture.

Along with commentary, we will share the report’s summary of K-12 response and recommendations moving forward in tomorrow’s column.

Til tomorrow. SVB