Florida test scores plummet after COVID-19 pandemic disrupted schools
It’s been almost five years since schools were closed down and students needed to do online learning during the pandemic. Now there is a post-COVID-19 report card for student performance nationwide and in the Sunshine State. It’s no question that the pandemic disrupted student performance in public schools but how are students doing now? New data from the nation’s report card shows students have a long way to go. In Florida, reading and math scores dropped to their lowest point in 20 years. Eighth graders did poorly on the national math test, and middle school reading scores also plunged. The numbers are from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is mandated by Congress. In a letter to the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz questioned the methodology used by NAEP to record the results. One positive note was that Florida continued to do better than the national average for fourth-grade reading. The scores show it has been a struggle to regain the ground that was lost during COVID and the importance of teachers. Several parents reacted to the findings of the study. “I think a lot of times we also just want the government or the state to take care of it, but what do we do as a parent?” Dr. Julia Baldwin said. Baldwin said her eighth grade son James was having difficulties in math. She took the extra step by taking him to tutoring at the Sylvan Learning Center. “Within eight months, he’s made leaps and bounds of years and years of schooling,” she said. “So if I leave it up to the state, and the system, the educational system that we have in Florida is not enough.” Other parents told NBC6 how they felt about the drop in scores. “It’s hard to be at home trying to teach them extra things to make it better when you don’t [know] what the test is about,” Rakeesha said. “It’s really shocking because I didn’t know that was still going on,” Carleae Moore said. “I thought everything had caught back up.” Even though Miami-Dade County Public Schools is an “A” district, school board member Steve Gallon weighed in. “Obviously, this data is very concerning because right now, we’re looking at declines that are at 20-year record lows,” he said. “One of the things that we do consider is that the NAEP scores reflect a sample. So for example, in Miami-Dade, that represents about 5,000 students. So we’ve tried to find a silver lining in Miami-Dade County Public Schools that we still, despite the decline that we share with the state in our reading and in our math, in certain areas we’re still above the state average. We recognize the decline, which was anticipated but we still have a ways to go.” Nationally, fourth and eighth graders performed worse than before the pandemic.
It’s been almost five years since schools were closed down and students needed to do online learning during the pandemic. Now there is a post-COVID-19 report card for student performance nationwide and in the Sunshine State.
It’s no question that the pandemic disrupted student performance in public schools but how are students doing now?
New data from the nation’s report card shows students have a long way to go.
In Florida, reading and math scores dropped to their lowest point in 20 years.
Eighth graders did poorly on the national math test, and middle school reading scores also plunged.
The numbers are from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is mandated by Congress.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz questioned the methodology used by NAEP to record the results.
One positive note was that Florida continued to do better than the national average for fourth-grade reading.
The scores show it has been a struggle to regain the ground that was lost during COVID and the importance of teachers.
Several parents reacted to the findings of the study.
“I think a lot of times we also just want the government or the state to take care of it, but what do we do as a parent?” Dr. Julia Baldwin said.
Baldwin said her eighth grade son James was having difficulties in math. She took the extra step by taking him to tutoring at the Sylvan Learning Center.
“Within eight months, he’s made leaps and bounds of years and years of schooling,” she said. “So if I leave it up to the state, and the system, the educational system that we have in Florida is not enough.”
Other parents told NBC6 how they felt about the drop in scores.
“It’s hard to be at home trying to teach them extra things to make it better when you don’t [know] what the test is about,” Rakeesha said.
“It’s really shocking because I didn’t know that was still going on,” Carleae Moore said. “I thought everything had caught back up.”
Even though Miami-Dade County Public Schools is an “A” district, school board member Steve Gallon weighed in.
“Obviously, this data is very concerning because right now, we’re looking at declines that are at 20-year record lows,” he said. “One of the things that we do consider is that the NAEP scores reflect a sample. So for example, in Miami-Dade, that represents about 5,000 students. So we’ve tried to find a silver lining in Miami-Dade County Public Schools that we still, despite the decline that we share with the state in our reading and in our math, in certain areas we’re still above the state average. We recognize the decline, which was anticipated but we still have a ways to go.”
Nationally, fourth and eighth graders performed worse than before the pandemic.
What's Your Reaction?
