This year's eighth graders were in fourth grade when their schools shut down. As they head to high school, the average student is nine months -- a full school year -- behind pre-pandemic math and reading levels, according to the latest NWEA data, reports Linda Jacobson on The 74.
Nearly 8 million students in grades three through eight took NWEA's MAP tests. All are testing below pre-pandemic levels, but the gap is especially large for eighth graders. 7.7 "Many students not only lost at least a year of in-person learning, but also transitioned to middle school during a chaotic period of teacher vacancies and rising absenteeism," writes Jacobson.
Furthermore, they're not catching up. The rate of progress was slower in 2023-24 than in pre-pandemic years. As a result, "the gap between pre-COVID and COVID test score averages widened in 2023-24 in nearly all grades, by an average of 36% in reading and 18% in math," NWEA reports
Asian students are showing some growth, but White, Black and Hispanic students are losing ground in both elementary and middle school. "Hispanic students need the most additional instruction to reach pre-COVID levels."
Intensive, small-group tutoring is the most effective way to help students improve reading and math skills, say researchers Monica Bhatt, Jonathan Guryan and Jens Ludwig. Among "counterintuitive" suggestions: Don't pay tutors too much, use instructional time for tutoring and use technology, strategically.
It's possible to hire effective tutors for much less than it costs to hire classroom teachers, they write. Don't waste money that could go for more tutors and more hours of tutoring.
After-school or at-home tutoring doesn't work. Students don't show up consistently. So tutoring needs to be part of the school day, they write. It's fine to cut into regular lessons in reading and math, because small-group tutoring is so much more effective.
It's also fine to take tutoring time from electives or specials, they write. "It’s true electives and specials can make students more engaged with school. But there’s something else that can do that, too –- being able to follow what the teacher is teaching in reading and math class." Tutoring during the school day did not diminish student engagement, their Chicago Public Schools study found.
In addition, "strategic, limited use of computer time as part of tutoring programs (not more than half the total time spent in the program) can greatly reduce the number of tutors that need to be hired, and thus greatly reduce costs, without having to compromise student learning at all," the researchers conclude.
With so many students so far behind -- and federal aid running out -- schools need to provide extra help in the most cost-effective way.
This sure seems like a ploy to get more money. "We didn't manage to catch these students up in three years, so give us extra money to do it now. We swear all we need is more money and everything will be OK."
Here's a question: when has extra money ever made a difference? Even accounting for inflation we pay twice now for education compared to the 1970s. Is education twice as good... or do we have twice as many administrators and other hangers-on?