The recent release of the National Assessment of Educational Progress scores showing a continued drop in reading scores sparked a lot of conversation on social media. While students’ reading abilities were on the decline prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the learning losses experienced during the pandemic only further exacerbated the downward trend.
Educators on social media had plenty of ideas on what issues are contributing to the disappointing results. Failure to hold back struggling students, a lack of time to properly give lessons, the influence of technology, and even a decrease in opportunities for physical activity were all named as contributors to the problem.
Below are a few highlights from some of those conversations.
Students aren’t being met where they are
A number of teachers believed the standards that students are being expected to meet aren’t matching up with skills they currently possess.
Today’s learning environment isn’t helpful for many students
Teachers cast a wide array of blame for the consistently poor scores, but one common theme among the responses was that the current environment for many students isn’t conducive for proper learning. Lack of exercise, technology, and standardized testing all do today’s students a disservice, commentators said.
