The reading and math scores of thousands of American students in fourth and eighth grades have reached lows not seen in decades, according to a report released by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also called the nation’s report card, that serves as a national yardstick of student achievement.
In Florida, scores in fourth grade reading declined to their lowest since 2003. Fourth grade math scores in the state dipped after the COVID-19 pandemic and now have started to recoup, though they are still lagging. Nationally, the scores are lower than pre-pandemic levels, according to news reports.
“The scores are like the canary in the coal mine for our educational system,” said Mary Beth Calhoon, associate professor of special education at the University of Miami School of Education and Human Development. She said there are many factors that affect the tests results.
The learning shifts that took place during COVID-19 played a role in disrupting students’ education. Most schools were closed during the pandemic, with most students learning remotely.
“We did take a hit from COVID-19, but it is not the only factor affecting reading scores,” said Calhoon. One major factor in the teaching of reading, currently receiving national attention, is the lack of phonics instruction beyond the third grade, she said.
“I work with middle school kids who are still reading below the fourth grade level. One thing that is coming out is the importance of phonics,” Calhoon said. “Understanding the sounds letters make and how letters influence each other to make sounds is fundamental to all aspects of reading.”
She believes that phonics should be taught from kindergarten through 12th grade. “If a student can’t read a word, they can’t read a sentence, and they can’t read a paragraph. If they can’t read a paragraph, they can’t comprehend written text,” Calhoon added.
The rise of social media and mostly reading small paragraphs or small blurbs on websites also affects reading. Because this is prominently what is read, students do not develop the ability to concentrate on longer texts. Middle school and high school students are no longer required to read entire books, she said. Instead, they read excerpts of assigned books and plays, like “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare.
“We are not requiring our children to read like we used to, yet expect them to sit through a 45-minute reading test and answer question after question to measure their reading comprehension,” she said. “Without practice through the school year, this is a monumental task for our students.”
Walter Secada, professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, acknowledges that nationally students have not recovered to pre-COVID-19 achievement levels. But he is hopeful that math scores for Floridians will continue to rise.
“The scores dipped from 2019 to 2022, but we have improved since then,” he said. “It is true that students suffered learning losses during COVID-19,” but all institutions have gone through changes. “Even the health system has not fully recovered,” he said.
He also finds troubling NAEP data that shows that higher achieving students fared better than low performing students—many of whom live in economically disadvantaged households.
“Maybe teachers at those schools are doing something different. We know that higher achievement kids (in higher income neighborhoods) tend to get better teachers and senior teachers with more teaching experience,” Secada said. Furthermore, parental involvement tends to be higher in these areas and that can affect educational outcomes, he added.
Also, absenteeism among low-achieving students is a problem that has escalated since the pandemic, he said. Secada feels that more research is needed to gauge the determinants of success of high achievers versus low achievers.
According to Secada, the educational system must think in broader terms about how certain issues related to natural disasters, such as wildfires and hurricanes, will continue to affect educational systems in the U.S.
“If you look at Miami-Dade County and at Hillsborough County scores in math, you see that Miami-Dade County bounced back with the scores, but Hillsborough did not,” he said. “Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Hillsborough has been hit by four hurricanes.
“As a society, we have to think about how to protect our educational system from these devastating events and develop decent, more efficient mitigation strategies to recover from them,” he said.
Calhoon said that to help children increase academic outcomes, schools need to think about revising and determine the top priorities of their curriculums.
“Teachers are expected to do everything, and there is so much to teach that certain fundamentals are not being reinforced,” she said. “Making sure the fundamental skills for reading and mathematics are learned should be prioritized.”
