National test scores reveal historic lows in math and reading skills

Newly disclosed figures from a crucial national test revealed historically low scores in two major subjects for th graders across the country further emphasizing that U S students have struggled to recover academically after the COVID- pandemic Testing statistics circulated Tuesday from the National Assessment of Educational Progress revealed that overall students scores were lower in th grade math and reading and th grade science than the last time students were tested in With of students scoring below basic in th grade science students science scores were the lowest they ve been since while students scores in th grade math and reading were the lowest they ve ever been since the tests were first administered for reading and for math The figures did not include a state-by-state breakdown but California is expected to release its own standardized testing information next month The assessment also known as the Nation s Summary Card tested around eighth-grade students from schools across the country from January to March to measure their knowledge of key science topics The assessment also tested about twelfth-grade students from schools in math and students from schools in reading Related Articles List National Merit Scholarship semifinalists from the Bay Area class of Opinion Artificial intelligence is here to stay so let s teach it in class Los Gatos teenager raises funds for a cause close to his heart Trainee dies during campus activity at Bay Area boarding school California school district sued over transgender athlete by girls volleyball players The decline in scores echoed testing content distributed earlier this year and revealed a -point drop for th graders in science and a -point decline for th graders in math and reading NAEP achievement levels basic proficient and advanced are performance standards that represent what students should know and be able to do but are not intended to reflect grade-level performance expectations The California School Boards Association declared in a report that the scores along with California s preponderance fresh scores suggest that stagnant outcomes should be expected especially for the preponderance vulnerable students Year after year California students continue to struggle in reading and math The persistent nature of achievement gaps in one of the wealthiest societies in recorded history is a disgrace for California s state leaders and a tragedy for its students explained Vernon Billy the CEO and Executive Director of the California School Boards Association The state has failed to fully own this predicament Local school boards carry the burden of trying to triage the situation under political and funding duress while the state sputters along without a clear coherent plan that details what the state is going to do differently at its agencies to help the efforts of local educational agencies to close the achievement gap In a report U S Secretary of Coaching Linda McMahon noted the national scores confirm a devastating trend American students are testing at historic lows across all of K- At a critical juncture when students are about to graduate and enter the workforce military or higher learning nearly half of America s high school seniors are testing at below basic levels in math and reading McMahon explained If America is going to remain globally competitive students must be able to read proficiently think critically and graduate equipped to solve complex problems We owe it to them to do better According to the Nation s Document Card at the basic level for th grade science students likely can demonstrate that reproduction is an essential part of population survival while students at the proficient level can likely describe the function of body systems and students at the advanced level can use the structures of organisms to identify specific adaptions of organisms and infer how these adaptions help organisms survive Students who number below the basic level likely cannot recall that plants need sunlight to grow and reproduce according to the Nation s Account Card The scores revealed that less than a third of th-grade students nationwide scored at or above NAEP proficient on the science assessment the benchmark goal for the assessment while more than a third of th-graders scored below NAEP basic on science the highest percentage of students since For th graders just scored at or above the proficient level in math and in reading Both subjects also saw the highest percentage of students ever points below basic in reading and math with of th graders who scored below the basic level in math and in reading Scores declined for all but the highest-achieving students pointing to a large and growing disparity between the lowest and highest-achieving students with widening gaps between the highest and lowest performers in all subjects except th grade reading and the highest achievement gap yet in th grade math The scores also revealed a re-emerging gap between male and female students for th grade science scores with male students outscoring female students by points a gap present in previous years but not in The assessment also surveyed students on their educational experience and postsecondary plans The results revealed an increase in apprentice absenteeism among twelfth-grade students with about of students from the math and reading assessment reporting missing or more days of school in the month prior to taking the assessment compared to about in Students confidence in their reading and math skills also declined of twelfth-graders shared having a high level of confidence in their math knowledge down from in and stated having a high confidence in their reading knowledge compared to in Less eighth graders also revealed having an interest and enjoyment in science compared to or a high confidence in their science skills Overall only about a third of the high school seniors who took the math and reading assessment in now sophomores in college were considered academically prepared for college down from about in But the test results revealed an uptick in percentage of th graders who disclosed being accepted to a four-year college compared to with about of th graders in who published being accepted to a four-year college compared to in Former North Carolina Gov Beverly Perdue who chairs the National Assessment Governing Board which oversees the assessment stated the test results reveal that students need more aid to succeed in school across core subjects and grades If policymakers and learning leaders fail to act now students and employers will feel the impact of declining skills and knowledge gaps as the global workforce becomes more and more competitive explained Perdue That bodes badly for them and badly for our country