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New Analysis Focused On Learning Recovery Since COVID-19 Pandemic

During the pandemic, academic achievement fell across the board, including foundational skills like reading and math. The Education Recovery Scorecard released Tuesday shows where West Virginia’s academic recover ranks nationally.

During the pandemic, academic achievement fell across the board, including foundational skills like reading and math. The Education Recovery Scorecard, a collaboration between education researchers at Harvard and Stanford, has been reporting on where students are now as recovery efforts continue nationwide.

Their latest report released Tuesday shows West Virginia ranked 22nd in math recovery and 42nd in reading between 2019 and 2024

However, the state saw a stronger recovery effort from 2022 onwards as it ranked 6th in growth for math and 11th in growth for reading from 2022-2024. West Virginia educational leaders hope that the full implementation of House Bill 3035, more commonly known as the Third Grade Success Act, later this year will help a strong recovery continue.

Recovery rates vary from district to district. Students in counties like Raleigh and Ohio, on average, have surpassed 2019 levels in math, while the average student in some districts, such as Logan, remains more than a full grade equivalent or more below their 2019 levels in math.

A nine percent rise in chronic absenteeism – students missing more than 10% of a school year – from 2019 to 2022 is slowing recovery efforts in West Virginia according to the analysis. Twenty percent of students in 2019 before the pandemic were considered to be chronically absent, compared to 29% in 2022. However, that number has trended down in the past two years, down to 24% in 2024. The report highlights reducing absenteeism as one of the most immediate and effective actions any district can take to improve educational outcomes.

The scorecard estimates West Virginia received roughly $4,400 per student in federal pandemic relief for K-12 schools, more than the national average of $3,700 per student. Nationally, the analysis suggests that educational relief dollars did contribute to the academic recovery, especially when targeted at academic catch-up efforts such as summer learning and tutoring, and urges local leaders to continue similar efforts.

Small Improvements In State’s National Reading, Math Scores Belie Lingering Issues

According to national test results released Wednesday morning, West Virginia’s fourth and eighth graders are improving their reading and math abilities.

West Virginia’s average fourth grade math score on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is 232, six points higher than it was in 2022 at 227 and just five points below the national average of 237.

The National Assessments, also known as the Nation’s Report Card, continually assess what students in the United States know, particularly reading and math in the 4th and 8th grades. Analysis of test results released in 2023 showed the continued negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on schooling, but also identified trends of a national academic decline prior to the pandemic.

Other scores released Wednesday morning show small increases of one point in average fourth grade reading and eighth grade math scores in West Virginia. Eighth grade reading scores fell by two points.

West Virginia trails the national averages by as much as 11 points in some subjects, and demographic analysis shows significantly lower scores for Black students and economically disadvantaged students in the state. For example, Black students had an average score that was 15 points lower than that for White students in fourth grade math, while students who were identified as economically disadvantaged had an average score that was 17 points lower than that for students who were identified as not economically disadvantaged.

Average scores also belie the reality that many students assessed are not meeting national standards. For eighth grade math, 52% of students in West Virginia scored below the NAEP Basic standard, compared to 41% nationally.

Reading results at both grade levels similarly show 47% of fourth graders and 42% of eighth graders scoring below the NAEP Basic standards.

Fourth grade math had the best results, with 72% of students assessed at or above the NAEP Basic level and just 28% below NAEP Basic standards.

National Analysis Of W.Va. Children Offers Solutions To Declining Math, Reading Scores

National academic assessments have shown the pandemic students across the nation lost ground in both reading and math. One study is pinpointing the investments needed to be made in education to ensure future success.

The Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation indicates West Virginia kids fared worse than their counterparts in most other states. Their annual assessment ranks West Virginia as having the third worst educational outcomes for children in the country based on the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress. According to the data, 78 percent of the state’s fourth graders are not proficient in reading, while 85 percent of eighth graders are not proficient in math.

In its 35th publication, the Kids Count Data Book focused on ensuring kids have what they need to be ready to learn, and on the impact of chronic absences and adverse childhood experiences.

“In West Virginia, I think we are seeing – and even prior to the pandemic have seen – that poverty and educational outcomes have that inextricable link,” said Kelly Allen, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, which is the state-level partner of Kids Count.

According to the Data Book, 45 percent of West Virginia students have experienced one or more adverse childhood experiences, and more than a third were chronically absent from the 2021-22 school year.

In the midst of statewide staffing shortages, Allen said educators and policymakers are struggling to get students back to a pre-pandemic baseline. One possible solution she and the report both point towards is set to expire in the coming months. By Sept. 30, 2024, states must draw down funding from the $190 billion federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program authorized by several pandemic-era relief bills. Allen said the funding could jump-start new initiatives or sustain existing endeavors.

“It’ll be really important for state lawmakers, and hopefully federal lawmakers as well, to recognize that we haven’t overcome the challenges related to the pandemic,” Allen said. “We really need to make sure we’re not going backwards as this funding expires. If we have fewer social workers, if we have fewer school psychologists, fewer support staff that’s helping get kids back up to speed in reading and math and other things, we’re gonna really see some negative consequences in the long term.”

The data book also presents a focus on community schools as a way to accomplish many of the necessary interventions to ensure student success. Community schools are defined as public schools that not only focus on academics but also provide wraparound support to kids and families, are natural homes for tutoring, mental health support, nutritional aid and other services.

Allen said that most school districts in West Virginia have seen a decline in enrollment over the past several years, leading to fewer state dollars.

“We’re seeing in Harrison County three schools close,” Allen said. “There’s a lot of consolidation happening, and it’s happening in other places as well. That’s kind of the inverse of community schools, kids having to be bussed further. This is not a time to reduce resources for schools, because kids have more needs than they did a few years ago.”

Latest National Assessment Shows Lowest Math, Reading Scores In 50 Years

The National Assessment of Educational Progress released its long-term trend assessment Wednesday, showing the largest declines in the more than 50 years the test has been administered.

The latest national assessment of students shows the continued negative effects of the pandemic on academic achievement. The National Assessment of Educational Progress released its long-term trend assessment Wednesday, showing the largest declines in the more than 50 years the test has been administered.

The math and reading assessment of the country’s 13-year-olds echoed recent declines in similar assessments of math, reading, history and civics at the 4th and 8th grade levels after the pandemic.

The long-term trend assessment is the last in the series of what the National Center for Education Statistics is calling pre- and post-pandemic assessments.

Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, said the long-term trend assessment seeks to maintain a relatively stable assessment to compare across years.

“These findings show consecutive declines for long-term trend math and reading,” she said. “However, it is fair to say that the pandemic may have accelerated some of these declines in that these are the largest math declines we’ve ever seen in this data collection.”

Carr said reading scores dropped to levels not seen since the first assessment in 1971.

“While the previous declines were driven by lower performers, these new data show everyone is declining: lower, middle and higher performing students,” she said. “In fact, the lower performing students with our math assessment are dropping at a faster rate than their higher performing counterparts. In reading, the drop has been uniform across the distribution, but the 10th percentile students are now performing lower than their counterparts in 1971.”

The long-term trend assessment also asked students to respond to a survey questionnaire.

Responses showed the percentage of 13-year-olds who said they “never or hardly ever” read for fun has risen over the past decade; about 31 percent of 13-year-olds said they “never or hardly ever” read for fun in 2023, while 22 percent said they “never or hardly ever” read for fun in 2012.

In math, fewer students are taking algebra. While about 34 percent of 13-year-olds in 2012 said they were currently taking algebra, that figure has declined to 24 percent in 2023.

Unlike the reading and math scores reported last fall, which relied on a sample size of more than 200,000 students, the long-term trend assessment results are based on a nationally representative sample of approximately 8,700 students in each subject that does not allow for detailed, state-by-state analysis. This is a similar sample size to the U.S. history and civics assessment results released in May.

Latest National Assessment Reinforces Academic Decline Post-COVID-19

The latest national assessment of academic ability shows a continued decline in student achievement nationwide.

Eighth graders on average scored five points lower on a U.S. History assessment in 2022 than in 2018, and almost 10 points lower than in 2014, according to test results published by the U.S. Department of Education Wednesday.

Known as the nation’s report card, the National Assessment of Educational Proficiency continually assesses what students in the country know.

The results echo declines in reading and math published in the fall.

Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, presented the assessment results. She said history and civics results further highlight educational issues post-COVID-19.

“The assessment isn’t just about the facts, it’s not just about dates and times and people and all those great things that you and I both know that’s on the assessment,” she said. “It’s about taking that information and conducting some critical thinking and some of the evaluative work relevant to that information. And I think this is where we’re seeing some real problems in these results.”

Unlike the reading and math scores reported last fall, which relied on a sample size of more than 200,000 students, the U.S. history and civics scores are based on a much smaller sample size, about 16,000 students, which does not allow for detailed, state by state analysis.

Carr pointed towards the decline between 2014 and 2018 history assessments to indicate that something beyond COVID-19 is impacting student achievement in the subject.

“I think we can all agree that COVID had an impact in both sets of assessments, reading and math, history and civics, but what was going on in U.S. History in particular, started long before COVID,” she said.

Carr also dismissed reports that instructional time for U.S. history and civics had declined significantly, with 90 percent of students assessed reporting their teachers spent three to four hours a week on U.S. history.

“These subjects are not getting squeezed out I think in the way that people sometimes might imagine,” Carr said. “There’s been a bit of a decline, but nonetheless, a lot of instruction is going on in these areas.”

Focus Groups Identify Issues Causing W.Va’s Low NAEP Scores

he Solutions for Success focus groups were initiated in response to the most recent National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test scores that ranked West Virginia near the bottom of the list. A series of focus groups were held in Morgantown, Wheeling, Charleston, Beckley and Martinsburg.

The Solutions for Success focus groups were initiated in response to the most recent National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test scores that ranked West Virginia near the bottom of the list.

A series of focus groups were held in Morgantown, Wheeling, Charleston, Beckley and Martinsburg.

Participants in the forum included teachers, parents, students and even a few lawmakers. Their mission: identify areas of critical need to improve educational outcomes in the state.

“We knew that this would be the first step in identifying the greatest strengths and challenges in our public schools,” said American Federation of Teachers-WV President Fred Albert.

He was joined by West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee at a joint press conference on Wednesday.

Lee said 66 percent of respondents identified the need for more certified educators. He said more than 1,500 classrooms across the state currently operate without a properly certified teacher present and the state is losing educators to bordering states, like Virginia, for higher pay. Public school shortages are across the board and include school bus drivers, kitchen staff and other school personnel.

To resolve the teacher shortage, the focus groups called for an increase in educator pay and more funding for public schools.

“We heard the governor say in the State of the State [address] that he was proposing another pay raise. We saw the bill that moved out of the House Education [Committee] that brought beginning salaries to $44,000 and it gave an increase to our service professionals so there is some movement; now let’s get it across the finish line.”

The second highest area of concern identified by 37 percent of respondents was discipline, a problem that can lead to harassment, bullying and an unsafe environment.

Twenty five percent of focus group participants said they would like to see schools hiring more counselors, therapists and mental health support professionals. In a state where families are impacted heavily by an opioid epidemic, Lee said hiring these support staff would be the first step to help address behavioral problems.

“If we’re hiring these to address the mental and emotional needs of our students, then we can reach out to the parents and guardians and the community, Lee said. “It’s a multi-pronged mission to do this, and if we address all of those then we can make real significant progress.”

Also of high importance: community, parent and student engagement. Lee said programs like Communities in Schools are a good start but would like to see the program expanded to offer parents or guardians an opportunity to engage with educators. He said this will help parents hone skills lost over the years so they can better assist their children.

“Student achievement levels are highest when there’s a coordinated effort between the home and school environment,” Lee said.

Lee conceded that time, resources and funding are needed to make real change.

American Federation of Teachers-WV President Albert said bills in both the House and Senate that address support in early grade classrooms are encouraging. One of them includes Senate Bill 274. Titled the “Third Grade Success Act,” the bill enacts several changes to how literacy is taught from kindergarten through third grade, which is considered a crucial period for lifetime reading skills.

“If we get them early on, I like to say we are putting them in intensive care, to help them become good readers and fluent readers,” Albert said. “There’s an initiative by the state department right now, literacy initiative, that we’re both on the advisory council for. So those bills, I think, are good. They’re going to cost money, but again, it’s an investment in our students and in our future, and I think that will help with student achievement.”

Albert said he would like to see bills introduced to help fourth grade through high school seniors achieve their full potential.

In a follow up online questionnaire, student behavior was listed as one of the biggest obstacles to educational achievement.

Alternative learning placements, tutoring and remediation programs along with increased time for planning and teacher collaboration were raised, as was more time teaching time, smaller class size and less paperwork requirements. Educators also said they would like to see more respect for their profession.