High schoolers' reading and math scores kept declining during COVID, with performance among seniors hitting its lowest point in over two decades | Fortune

"WASHINGTON (AP) - 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. Eighth-grade students also lost significant ground in science skills, according to the results from the National Assessment of Education Progress."

""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."

"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."

U.S. students have experienced a decade-long decline in reading and math performance, with 12th-grade scores falling to their lowest level in more than 20 years. Eighth-grade students showed significant losses in science proficiency. Recent NAEP assessments for eighth-grade science and 12th-grade reading and math continued a downward trend across grades and subjects. Lowest-performing students are at historic lows, indicating urgent need for focused action to accelerate learning. Causes include pandemic-related disruptions plus longer-term factors such as increased screen time, shortened attention spans, reduced exposure to long-form reading, and curricular shifts toward shorter texts and fewer assigned books.

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