The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) recently released the Nation’s Report Card results.
This test is the first comprehensive look at student performance since the pandemic began. The results show that students in almost every state are performing at a lower level in math and reading than before the pandemic. The previous test was given in 2019, before the pandemic.
Education professionals say the recent results should be viewed as an important wake-up call that students need help.
What is The Nation’s Report Card?
Considered to be the best way to measure student academic progression, the NAEP provides a snapshot of how students at particular grade levels across the country are performing academically.
The NAEP measures students’ academic performance in grades 4, 8, and 12. Not every student takes this test; Instead, the assessors choose students representing various ethnicities, economic backgrounds, gender, and more.
This fall, students who are 13 years old took the Long-Term Trend (LTT) Mathematics and Reading assessment. In the spring, students in the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades will take the field test.
2022 Nation’s Report Card Results at a Glance
According to the National Center For Education Statistics, test scores are at their lowest level in decades. Results show large declines in both reading and math proficiency in nearly every state.
Math Test Results:
- Only 36% of fourth graders are proficient in math
- Just 26 % of eighth graders are proficient in math
Reading Test Results
- 33% of fourth graders are proficient or above in reading.
- Just 31% of eighth graders are proficient or above in reading.
According to Peggy Carr, Commissioner from the National Center for Education Statistics, these results are a critical moment in education, and everyone from Legislators to students themselves should be concerned about the results.
You can draw a straight line from pandemic school disruptions to student performance.
Peggy Carr, National Center for Education Statistics
The Pandemic and Nation’s Report Card Results.
The Nation’s Report Card is meant to be an overall snapshot of student performance rather than individual student reporting. Its purpose is to provide information as a whole, not only about student levels but about schools, school districts, and the curriculum.
However, parents should use the results of these tests to check how their child is performing in comparison to the state and national results in math and reading.
Parents can view the results in their state here: https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/
The results of these tests are important as they are the first formal measurement of how much the pandemic has actually affected student learning. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said that the Nation’s Report Card results show that pandemic recovery is critical, and that simply returning to business as normal will not help students catch up.
We must treat the task of catching our children up in reading and math with the urgency this moment demands.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona
Research Shows Tutoring Programs Help Students Succeed
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) invested $130 billion to support schools to invest in resources that will help students close pandemic skills gaps, including afterschool programs and hiring more teachers and mental health professionals, and quality tutoring programs.
Backed by extensive research, quality tutoring programs can help students make significant academic gains in several areas.
Tutoring can increase achievement by roughly an additional three to 15 months of learning across grade levels.
ACCELERATING STUDENT LEARNING WITH HIGH-DOSAGE TUTORING
Another report showed that high-dosage tutoring (three days per week or more) has proven positive effects on both math and reading achievement.
GradePower Learning Programs Can Help
Help your child overcome pandemic learning loss with a personalized program at GradePower Learning. Contact a location near you to enroll today.
