More Bad News for K-12 Continued

We continue today exploring why reading and math scores from our traditional K-12 system continue to decline.

Last week, EducationWeek reported that,

“Reading and math scores on the nation’s report card show that students haven’t rebounded from the pandemic – and in some cases, achievement is still declining.”

“The grim news from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, released [last] Wednesday, has prompted urgent calls from governors, state chiefs, and advocates across the education field for rapid, focused action to support students, especially those at the bottom of the achievement distribution.”

“’Test scores confirm students are still struggling, but that’s not the whole story,’ said Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat and the chair of the National Governors Association, in a statement [last] Wednesday.”

“’Reading and math scores were declining even before the pandemic – especially for the lowest-performing students,’ Polis continued. ‘Our challenge isn’t just to get back to normal; it’s to reverse decades of deterioration.’”

“Why have scores on this national gauge of student achievement faltered over the last decade, and how can schools reverse that pattern? Those are complex, thorny questions.”

“NAEP results can show how students’ performance has changed over time, but they can’t explain why. For that reason, researchers have long cautioned against claiming that changes in scores are the result of specific policies.”

“Still, the lingering effects of once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, and longer-term trends in state and federal educating priorities, frame the context in which students take the test.”

“EducationWeek spoke with experts to dig into the factors that could be shaping the results.”

“Why haven’t we seen more pandemic recovery? – That’s a question that has been asked a lot given the unprecedented $190 billion investment from the federal government to help catch students up.”

“But at some level, it’s not that surprising that students haven’t seen more academic growth in the wake of the pandemic,’ said Susanna Loeb, the executive director of the National Student Support Accelerator, which aims to advance high-impact tutoring as an academic-recovery strategy.”

“It requires ‘a lot of effort, and focus, and expertise’ to change schools in a way that would allow for students to make progress at a faster rate than they have before, she said.”

…

“The downward trajectory in reading and math scores predates the pandemic. Do we know why? – Starting about a decade ago, NAEP scores started flattening – and gaps between the highest- and lowest-performers began to grow. While the pandemic accelerated these trends, it wasn’t their origin point.”

“There are no definitive answers as to what caused this slide, but there are trends in policy, and shifts in the broader world in which students live and have unfolded along the same timeline.”

The disappearance of a national accountability system is a possible reason for the recent NAEP stagnation. And it needs to be pointed out that the increases seen in NAEP data during the 1990’s and 2000’s were seen as incremental at best.

This week, The 74 reported that,

…

“Many stories also picked up on the fact that achievement gaps are growing, as lower-performing students have fallen further behind. For instance, in eighth grade math, the scores for the top 10% of students rose 3 points, while the bottom 10% feel 5 points.”

“But these national numbers are hiding the fact that achievement gaps are growing in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. While they vary in magnitude, the extent of the divergence playing out in schools across the country is alarming.”

The change in 8^th grade math nationally, comparing students in the 90^th percentile and the 10^th percentile, is alarming.

“…gaps have increased in every state, most dramatically in Massachusetts, California, Texas, Arizona, Washington, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In all of these, the gap [between high-achievers and low-achievers] widened by 20 points or more.”

In all of this bad news, one state shined brightly when it came to NAEP performance – Louisiana. Yes, Louisiana, a state that is usually found in the lower quartile of performers when it comes to standardized testing.

The 74 conducted an interview this week with Cade Brumley, Louisiana’s schools chief for the past half-decade. Here are excerpts from that interview published last week,

When asked what were the big policy or governance factors that have allowed Louisiana to see these improvements, Brumley answered, “I operate from what I call the BRAVE plan: going back to basics, redesigning systems, accelerating parental rights, valuing teachers, and expanding educational freedom.”

Brumley went on to say,

“Many systems, schools, and educators are unfortunately focused on pursuits that aren’t teaching kids to read and do math, and they’re not trained to do it. Teachers are not clinically trained to be social workers or nurses, and many schools attempt to put them in those roles. I am not suggesting those supports aren’t needed, but it shouldn’t be teachers who are made responsible.”

“If we effectively train teachers to deliver their content, I think we’ll see outcomes improve.”

ABPTL congratulates Mr. Brumley and Louisiana for their recent NAEP performance, but are we sure teacher training is the reason for that state’s bump in scores? There are plenty of states investing millions of dollars in teacher training and their lowest performing kids are suffering.

I’m afraid the recent NAEP data only suggests one thing to me – it’s time for a new system of learning.

What are we waiting for?

Til tomorrow. SVB