Test scores show American students slipping further behind despite recovery efforts

Students across the U.S. fell further behind academically last school year despite extensive efforts to help them recover from pandemic learning setbacks, according to an analysis of test scores. The study by the research organization Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), which also administers assessments in K-12 schools, lands as the 2024 deadline approaches quickly for schools to spend the last of the $190 billion in federal pandemic relief money. “There are ways schools can take better advantage of their limited resources and time to boost learning,” said Chase Nordengren, the group's lead researcher for instructional strategies. He said schools could group students based on their needs and provide targeted instruction, for example, adjusting groups as individuals progress. “We’ve been trying to send the message that this is a multiyear, if not decades-long recovery period, and is going to require some fundamental rethinking of the ways that not only we educate students but we think about how students are grouped and how we think about their learning,” Nordengren added. “I think that perhaps we’ve neglected filling in the holes of the last two years in a rush to get back to grade-level content and we’re seeing the impact of that, that kids are not able to keep up because they’re still missing some foundational pieces,” said Karyn Lewis, director of the Center for School and Student Progress at NWEA, and the study’s co-author. Lewis wonders whether families know how bad the situation is, and if there is an appetite for schools to be innovative enough to tackle the problem. “Schools are doing the right things,” she said. “They’re just not doing enough of the right things. And I think that’s because we’ve underestimated how persistent the effects of COVID will be on kids.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.