American Test Scores Declining

It’s obvious Covid-19 has left a scar that will not be fading in simply a year or two, but it is shocking how it has influenced American children’s learning, erasing years of study, and heightening racial, religious, and identity inequalities.

Math tests have dropped the most dramatically and scores haven’t been this low since 1992. About four out of ten eighth graders struggle to comprehend fundamental math subjects. We’re not talking about simply Minnesota’s local schools. We’re talking about nationwide score drops and none of the states have noticed a dramatic uprising. Since the pandemic, we’ve done some digging and found that on average, there has been an 8-point drop, which is extremely damaging considering 10 points is estimated to be a year. Fourth grade has the highest national drop with a record of 16 points.

It is surprising, but researchers find it anything but shocking that the kids are falling behind. Every aspect of life was altered by the pandemic, which forced millions of people to learn at home for several months or longer. Results revealed how severe those deficits were and how hard it would be to help those pupils catch up.

Math scores have fallen by the biggest difference ever recorded in NAEP history, in 1969 when reading scores fell. Eighth graders preformed the lowest of all grades where a whopping 38% of kids’ scores fell “below basic.” For instance, that 38% could not identify the third angle of a triangle if they are given the other two.

“We want our students to be prepared globally for STEM careers, science and technology, and engineering,” Angel Hope says, “This puts all of that at risk. We have to do a reset. This is a very serious issue, and it’s not going to go away on its own.”