By BRENDAN CLAREY | THE CENTER SQUARE
According to a federal survey of school leaders, 40% of students in the nation’s public schools were behind grade level in one or more subjects at the beginning of the school year.
The National Center for Education Statistics announced its findings this week that the percentage of students school leaders estimated to be behind where they should be was down 7% from the 2022-23 school year but still 8% higher than before the pandemic.
School leaders told the federal education statistics agency in October that over a third of students were behind entering the 2024-25 school year. NCES data shows students are farther behind than before state and local governments closed schools during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Before the pandemic, school leaders estimated that 32% of students were behind grade level in at least one area. In 2021-22, it rose to 45%, and in the 2022-23 school year, it reached 47%.
The data shows school leaders were more likely to say students from low-income families and in schools where the population was 76% or more students of color were behind, with 52% of students estimated to be behind where they should be.
School leaders located in cities and at schools with fewer than 300 students reported that 48% of students were lagging academically.
The data follows with broader student academic achievement data and other metrics that show the effects of the pandemic closures were not equitable to minority students, who suffered more significant declines in academic achievement.
The survey also found that students were more likely to be estimated to be behind in specific subject areas studied.
“Ninety-eight percent of public schools reported that at least some students were behind grade level in mathematics and English or language arts,” the NCES said in its findings.
School leaders said 76% of students were behind in the sciences, and 55% were behind in social studies.
This story initially published at Chalkboard News, a K-12 news site that, like The Center Square, is also published by Franklin News Foundation.
I’m not sure I believe it. Maybe in low income areas it may be true, but certainly not nationwide.
At least 45% of our Property Taxes goes to ASD.
Yet, this is the performance we ‘Taxpayers’ get!
Maybe(?), it’s time to trim the ASD budget by 25%?
Maybe(?), parents should seek alternative choices?
Maybe(?), it’s time for school choice w/ tax dollars allocated per student?
Thank you Dr. Fauci.
And no one should contradict him, because, of course, he represents “science”.
Well H*ll. Just throw more money at the problem.. It has worked so well in the past.
The condition of our youth is far worse than large numbers being “behind grade level” in several critical subjects due the standards used are so low to begin with.
We must end the monopoly that public schools have over education public funding, which entraps all students whose families are unable to afford private schooling.
We need a competitive education industry.
Arguably it is not all the fault of the School system and teachers; lackadaisical and/or uninvolved parents share much of the blame. And yet, it still goes back to the educational institution which many decades ago convinced parents that the public school would take care of all the needs of their children: knowledge, health, food, transportation and enculturation. Most students in private and charter schools, and of course homes schoolers, don’t have these “advantages” and most are thriving in spite of that.