As 2023 nears, let’s look at how students are performing

Let’s start with the good news: Students are well on their way to recovering academically since the pandemic. However, the path ahead may be longer than we’d like.

We saw a historic drop in math scores on the Nation’s Report Card in October, revealing the pandemic’s “profound toll” on student learning, particularly among 4th and 8th graders. The results indicated a decrease in scores among these groups since last year, as well as a plummet to levels unseen since 1992.

“The results … underscore the importance of instruction and the role of schools in both students’ academic growth and their overall well-being,” said Commissioner Peggy G. Carr of the National Center for Education Statistics. “It’s clear we all need to come together—policymakers and community leaders at every level—as partners in helping our educators, children, and families succeed.”

Now that schools are practically finished with their first “normal” semester since the pandemic, how do they look?

NWEA, a not-for-profit research and educational services organization, released its findings from an analysis of fall 2022 assessment data from nearly 7 million 3rd-8th-grade students. Here’s what they found.

Students are improving

“We can confidently say that Spring 2021 is when we bottomed out,” said Karyn Lewis, director of the Center for School and Student Progress at NWEA and co-author of the report. “Since that time, we’ve seen those gaps start to shrink, which is good news and indicates we’re on the path to recovery. But there’s still a long road ahead of us and achievement levels continue to be below pre-pandemic norms.”

Key findings:

• While “summer slides” are expected, students didn’t fall nearly as far behind as they did pre-pandemic.
• Math and reading scores continued to improve, however, rebounds were not even across school years, particularly in reading.
• 3rd-grade students, who were in kindergarten at the onset of the pandemic, showed the largest declines in reading and the least rebounds.
• Despite continued rebounds, academic achievement is still down compared to previous years, and full recovery will take years.

This data is good news for district leaders in that it serves as an accurate checkpoint necessary for policy implementation and intervention efforts.

“This is a great moment for school leaders to look for opportunities to give classroom teachers the flexibility they need to serve students with varying degrees of proficiency, like flexible schedules and adding staff that can support dynamic student grouping,” said Chase Nordengren, principal research lead for Effective Instructional Strategies at NWEA.

“This will be no easy task as school leaders continue to juggle challenges like staffing shortages and balancing academic recovery with student mental health. They deserve our support and understanding as they focus their efforts on meeting the needs of students who need it the most.”

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