These results came out about two weeks ago and the reporters were expressing doom and gloom for our children. As stated in this New York Times article, "This year, for the first time since the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests began tracking student achievement in the 1970s, 9-year-olds lost ground in math, and scores in reading fell by the largest margin in more than 30 years."
The math and reading tests were given to over 14,000 9-year-old students nationwide. Results from 2022 were compared to those of the same age group from early 2020, before the pandemic started. But it's not all doom and gloom! There are ways to gain back the loss that occurred. Many educators and tutors are standing by, eager to help. If you can't afford a private tutor, check out my previous blog post.
I have spoken with many parents since the pandemic started and I've heard from many of them that their children were doing well in math prior to the pandemic and then lost interest in it or started doing poorly in it after COVID hit. Students who already struggled with math before COVID continued to show low achievement in the subject, to no fault of their own. Many kids were affected greatly in many aspects of their lives by the pandemic and remote learning. They had to adjust to a new reality, and very abruptly. During that time, many of the children I worked with expressed anxiety to me and loneliness from missing their friends. Many kids could not or did not attend classes that their schools offered. If their academics suffered after COVID, there were reasons for it.
If your child is needing extra support to catch up to their curriculum, there is no shame in that. If there are a few kids in the same class who can benefit from support, they can do tutoring together so that they don't feel singled out. Reach out for help or advice so that your child can feel confident and you can feel more relaxed about the education they may have missed out on during the pandemic.