No rainbows and butterflies here: Our students are behind!
Updated: 2 days ago
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Submitted by Jewel Wiesinger -- The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report card was released during the last week of January with disturbing results. The NAEP is given every two years to a sample of children and is “considered one the best gauges of the academic progress of the U.S. school system.” (Collin Binkley, Associated Press). Sorry to be disturbing, but this is not a rainbows and butterflies information session. (To view the full press release, please visit: https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ ) While there are pockets of good news, here is the summation:
Reading Scores:
Reading proficiency has dropped for both fourth and eighth graders since the last assessment.
In 2024, the percentage of eighth-graders’ reading below NAEP Basic was the largest in the assessment’s history, and the percentage of fourth-graders who scored below NAEP Basic was the largest in 20 years. https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/
Math Scores: Those pockets of good news.
Fourth-grade math scores showed a slight improvement compared to 2022
It is a two-point gain that followed a 5-point decline from 2019 to 2022
Eighth-grade math scores remained largely unchanged; they did not go down.
Overall:
The gap continues to show growing inequality with widening gaps between low and high-performing students.
Lower performing students continue to decline while higher performing students improve.
I mentioned NAEP Basic above. Those below Basic are missing fundamental skills. Please note the second bullet under Reading. A large percentage of our students go to school each and every day with reading gaps. These gaps continue to widen and are not filled without intervention, as shown by the NAEP results. Math skills show little to “slight” improvement.
As I said above, I do not have rainbows and unicorns to share with you, but that is enough of the disturbing news for now. Please read the full press release at https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ for more information regarding the results.
Even in high-performing districts, the data from the NAEP report card applies. This gets me fired up. With two Huntington Learning Centers in the southeast, Fort Mill, SC and Weddington, NC, I do a lot of research on the school districts where those centers operate and see, in-person, the gaps students live with in the classroom every day. According to US News World and Report, South Carolina is ranked 42nd of 50 states for overall education and North Carolina, better, ranked 21st. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/education There are great school districts within lower-performing states, but I digress, that is not the issue.
OUR STUDENTS ARE BEHIND. Many lower-performing districts/students do not have financial access to outside services. We know schools are underfunded and great teachers are leaving districts in droves. I know I can be sarcastic, but this is a serious question: “How do we fix this?” In my position as Executive Director of two Huntington Learning Centers, we take it student by student. This is a national crisis, managed, ultimately on a state and county level. Please, please consider giving back to schools. Look for opportunities to be a reading buddy or tutor. Research local Education Foundations that give directly back to teachers and students and ask how to get involved. Sign up for duty-free lunch. Sponsor. Write a note of gratitude.
You can visit https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ to view these reports more in depth.
Test scores show schools further behind in reading, math | AP News – Collin Binkley
-Jewel Wiesinger, MS SSP
Executive Director, Huntington Learning Centers – Fort Mill and Weddington
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