Washington (AP) – 10 years of slides and high school students’ reading Mathematics Performance continued during the Covid-19 pandemic, with 12th grade scores falling to their lowest levels in over 20 years.
The results of a national assessment of education progress show that eighth grade students also lost a major foundation in their science skills.
This was the first time that the assessment was made since the eighth grade pandemic in science and the 12th grade pandemic in reading and mathematics. They reflect a Downward drift Beyond grade levels and subject areas of previous releases from NAEP, this is considered one of the best gauges of academic advancements in US schools.
“The lowest performers score is historic low,” said Matthew Selner, representative committee member of the National Center for Educational Statistics. “These results should encourage us all to take coordinated, intensive actions to accelerate student learning.”
The pandemic has had a major impact on student achievement, but experts said the decline in scores is part of a longer arc of education that cannot be attributed solely to Covid-19. School closure Related issues such as enhanced Absent work. The educators said potential underlying factors include increased screen time for children, reduced attention spans, and reduced long forms of writing in and out of school.
The dip in reading scores appears with a change in how English and linguistic arts are taught in schools; Short text and reservation excerptssaid Carol Jago, associate director of UCLA’s California Reading and Literary Projects. Twenty years ago, as a high school English teacher, Jago said it was common for high school students to read 20 books over a year. Currently, some English classes allocate three books a year.
“To be a good reader, you have to have stamina to stay on the page, even if it’s difficult,” Jago said. “You need to build those muscles and we don’t build those muscles in our kids.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the scores indicate why the Trump administration wants to give states more control over their education spending.
“Even though we spend billions of dollars a year on numerous K-12 programs, the achievement gap is growing, with more high school seniors falling below the basic math and reading benchmarks more than ever,” McMahon said.
Few students demonstrate basic proficiency in mathematics and reading
Test scores indicate that more students are not at what is considered “basic” outcomes in the subject area, said Leslie Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Bureau. Although NAEP’s definition of “skilled” is a high bar, it is not unreasonable and is based on what researchers believe students can achieve by the end of high school, Muldoon said.
“These students are taking the next step in life with fewer skills and less knowledge of core scholars than their predecessors ten years ago,” she said. “This is happening when rapid advances in technology and society are demanding more future workers and citizens.”
In reading, the average score for 2024 was the lowest in the history of ratings that began in 1992. 32% of seniors in high school are below the basic level.
In mathematics, the average score for 2024 was the lowest since 2005, when the evaluation framework changed significantly. On the test, 45% of high school seniors fell below “basic” results, scoring at their highest percentage since 2005. Only 33% of seniors in high school are considered academically prepared for university-level mathematics courses, down from 37% in 2019.
High school reading and mathematics assessments, as well as the eighth grade science test, are given more frequently than the two fourth and eighth grade reading tests released earlier this year. The new scores reflect tests held at schools across the country between January and March 2024.
The achievement gap is expanding
The gap between the best performance and the lowest student was the broadest of eighth grade science students, reflecting the growth in inequality in the American school system. The achievement gap also expanded in the mathematics of 12th graders.
The score also reflects the reappearance of a Gender Gap Science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses. In 2019, boys and girls scored roughly the same scores in the NAEP Science rating. However, in 2024, the girls’ scores dropped sharply. A similar pattern occurred in state mathematical ratings, according to an Associated Press analysis.
The school had largely shut down the gender gap between mathematics and science, but it expanded over the years following the pandemic as a special program to hire girls.
The Student NAEP Survey stated that the proportion of students in 8th grade was shrinking and that they regularly participated in inquiry-based learning activities in the classroom. Christine Cunningham, senior vice president of STEM learning at the Museum of Science in Boston, said the pandemic has disrupted the school’s ability to create these hands-on learning experiences for students.
Still, she said that before schools were closed in 2020, a decline between subjects began.
“We don’t know exactly what the cause was, but it’s incomplete to assume that without Covid the score would not have been reduced,” Cunningham said. “That’s not what the data showed even before the pandemic.” ___
Feathers reported from New York.
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