A decade-long slide in high schoolers' reading and math performance persisted during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 12th graders' scores dropping to their lowest level in more than 20 years, according to results released Tuesday from an exam known as the nation’s report card.
Minnesota educators are racing to reverse these sliding math and reading scores impacting students and districts all across the country.
Minnetonka Public Schools superintendent David Law tells Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News that the state has identified materials schools should use to improve reading.
"We're just at the front end of a major shift in how we address reading in public education," says Law. "Every school district has trained every teacher, and all districts are currently in the adoption process for new materials. That should see an uptick in how students are performing in our schools. It takes a little bit of time."
The new data shows nationally, more high school seniors are struggling with math and reading than at any point in recent decades. Eighth-grade students also lost significant ground in science skills, according to the results from the National Assessment of Education Progress.
Law adds parent involvement is a big key to addressing key issues with students, particularly when it comes to introducing reading at an early age.
"In a time of school choice, it's harder for public schools to know who's going to be coming to them in kindergarten," explains Law. "So, it probably has to be a statewide preparation for 3 and 4-year olds because a lot of school districts are picking up kindergarten students that aren't their community residents, Minnetonka included."
Law says districts are adopting new materials for reading, which he believes will lead to an uptick in overall student performance.
The assessments were the first since the pandemic for eighth graders in science and 12th graders in reading and math. They reflect a downward drift across grade levels and subject areas in previous releases from NAEP, which is considered one of the best gauges of the academic progress of U.S. schools.
“Scores for our lowest-performing students are at historic lows,” said Matthew Soldner, the acting commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. “These results should galvanize all of us to take concerted and focused action to accelerate student learning.”
While the pandemic had an outsize impact on student achievement, experts said falling scores are part of a longer arc in education that cannot be attributed solely to COVID-19, school closures and related issues such as heightened absenteeism. Educators said potential underlying factors include children's increased screen time, shortened attention spans and a decline in reading longer-form writing both in and out of school.
The dip in reading scores appeared alongside a shift in how English and language arts are taught in schools, with an emphasis on short texts and book excerpts, said Carol Jago, associate director of the California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA. As a high school English teacher 20 years ago, Jago said it was common for her high school students to read 20 books over the course of a year. Now, some English classes are assigning just three books a year.
“To be a good reader, you have to have the stamina to stay on the page, even when the going gets tough,” Jago said. “You have to build those muscles, and we’re not building those muscles in kids.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the scores show why the Trump administration wants to give states more control of education spending.
“Despite spending billions annually on numerous K-12 programs, the achievement gap is widening, and more high school seniors are performing below the basic benchmark in math and reading than ever before,” McMahon said.
House Democrats said the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Education Department will only hurt students. The declines show a need for federal investment in academic recovery and educational equity, said Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, ranking member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
“Eliminating the very agency responsible for supporting public schools and enforcing civil rights protections of students will only deepen the achievement gaps identified by this assessment,” Scott said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.