Adam Aguilera helps fourth-graders Mya Phanthavong, left, and Kaler Mathews, right, with a math game during class at Pioneer Elementary School in 2018 in Vancouver. The average student in Clark County is behind grade level in math and reading skills when compared to before the pandemic. (The Columbian files)
The average Clark County student’s reading and math skills are below grade level, according to a new analysis of test scores comparing them to prepandemic academic achievement. Meanwhile, absenteeism remains higher than before the pandemic.
The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University collaborated to produce the Education Recovery Scorecard released Tuesday. The report, which analyzed third- through eighth-grade test scores from 8,700 school districts in 43 states, shows continued academic losses after the pandemic.
“The losses are not just due to what happened during the ’20-’21 school year, but the aftershocks that have hit schools in the years since the pandemic,” said Thomas Kane, an economist and Harvard professor, during an exclusive Feb. 5 briefing hosted by the Associated Press.
Washington’s academic recovery ranked 34th in math and 26th in reading, according to the scorecard. The state’s average student achievement is half a grade level below 2019 math and reading averages, according to the report.
Math and reading averages in the largest Clark County school districts — Evergreen, Vancouver and Battle Ground — are also below grade level compared to the 2019 national average, according to the report. (Data isn’t available from 2019 to 2022 due to the pandemic.)
“EPS teachers work hard to help students recover from missed learning during the pandemic,” Evergreen’s Chief Academic Officer Brian Fox said in an email. “While summative assessments have value, most educators find greater value in formative assessments, which are less formal tests given throughout the learning process.”
Both Vancouver and Evergreen’s 2022-2024 math and reading averages are 1½ grades below prepandemic levels.
“We do care about test scores. We also care about other indicators to help us get a whole picture on our students and the goals of our community,” said Brian Graham, Vancouver’s director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for grades six through 12.
Graham said for the past few years, staff have been training to guarantee that “students get the opportunity to learn essential standards that transcend grade levels.”
Battle Ground’s math performance hovers slightly above half a grade level below the 2019 national average, and reading is right at the cusp.
Other Clark County school districts’ data vary. Ridgefield and Camas’ school districts 2024 math and reading performances stayed above the 2019 national grade level average, but are still lower than the years leading up to the pandemic. Hockinson’s averages are also above the national average at half a grade higher, and its 2024 math average higher than it was in 2018.
The Education Recovery Scorecard obtained data from the American Enterprise Institute that shows absenteeism in Clark County schools decreased from 2022 to 2023 but remains above prepandemic levels.
Absenteeism refers to the number of chronically absent students who miss more than 10 percent of a school year.
“We’re on the journey, just as I’m sure many schools across the nation are, and helping all their students be engaged,” said Graham, Vancouver’s curriculum director.
He said Vancouver schools are working to cultivate in students social engagement, self-management and self-awareness.
Vancouver’s rate of absenteeism nearly doubled from 2019 to 2022 and decreased about 5 percent in 2023, similar to the trend in Evergreen.
Battle Ground and other Clark County school districts’ absenteeism rates also remain higher than before the pandemic but are improving.
Washington’s chronic absenteeism increased from 15 percent of students in 2019 to 30 percent in 2023, according to the scorecard.
“We’ve left the challenge of helping students to catch up on school district leaders, but lowering absenteeism is one of the few things that mayors and employers and other community leaders could help with,” Kane said. “And that is through public information campaigns, through supporting extracurricular activities in schools, field trips that make it more attractive for students to attend and employers potentially helping with transportation and other issues that might boost student attendance.”
State investment
A bright spot in the study: State spending on academic improvement appeared to make a difference.
During the pandemic, the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction received $2.9 billion federal relief funds — roughly $2,600 per student, which is below the national average of $3,700 per student, according to the Education Recovery Scorecard.
“Nationally, our analysis suggests that the dollars did contribute to the academic recovery, especially when targeted at academic catch-up efforts such as summer learning and tutoring,” the scorecard’s press release for Washington said.
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