Published: May 5, 2023
Prep Academy Tutors | Boulder County CO
On Tuesday, May 3, The Nation’s Report Card, which administers the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), reported that scores across the country for eighth grade students were down in civics and history.
Only 14% of eighth-grade students scored at or above the “proficient” level in history, and just 22% of students were proficient in civics — which means the inverse is also true — 86% of eighth-grade students are NOT proficient in history and 78% are NOT proficient in civics.
This is heartbreaking news for parents, teachers, and students alike. This news comes just eight months after The Nation’s Report Card reported record declines in the NAEP’s math and reading assessments for fourth and eighth grade students.
According to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, “The latest data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress further affirms the profound impact the pandemic had on student learning in subjects beyond math and reading.”
In other words, the more we learn about the pandemic’s impact on K-12 education across the country, the clearer it becomes that two years of individual, in-home, and online learning had a profoundly negative affect on students’ understanding and literacy.
“The latest data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress further affirms the profound impact the pandemic had on student learning in subjects beyond math and reading.”
– MIGUEL CARDONA, U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
As Patrick Kelly, a executive member of The Nation’s Report Card’s board of directors, wrote in a USA Today Op-Ed on May 3: “Mastery of reading and math are unquestionably important for student success, both now and in the future. But we can elevate these subjects without stripping the school day of content that prepares students for citizenship – a key role of public schools.
“This is a problem everyone across the nation should be concerned about. While proficiency is the goal, too few kids are even working at what the Nation’s Report Card defines as the Basic Level on the history and civics assessments. Forty percent of eighth graders failed to hit that mark in history, and about a third performed below Basic in civics. That means they likely would have trouble understanding the historical context of the Gettysburg Address and naming one way Congress fulfills its constitutional responsibilities.”
Educational experts consistently agree that individual, one-on-one tutoring is the single more efficient and effective way for students to bridge the educational gap created by the pandemic.
For additional information about tutoring, email Prep Academy Tutors of Boulder or call 720-902-5585.