Students struggled with learning loss amid faculty closures and on-line learning during the pandemic, in response to 2020-2021 testing data launched by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Each yr, Pennsylvania scholar grades 3 by 8 are assessed in English Language Arts and Mathematics, whereas each scholar in grades 4 and eight is assessed in science.
This chart notes the drop within the proportion of scholars statewide scoring proficient or superior in three topics:
|
2019 |
2021 |
||
English learning arts and literature |
|
60.9% |
|
55% |
Mathematics and algebra |
|
42.4% |
|
37.3% |
Science and biology |
|
68% |
|
63.7% |
Participation in evaluation exams in 2021 dropped from the standard 97% to solely 71%. Department of Education officers say the data is considerably skewed as a result of extra college students have been out of college for quarantine or different causes. Students weren’t examined in 2020 because of the pandemic.
“Historically, standardized assessment results have been an important part of understanding school performance and our work to close achievement and opportunity gaps,” Sherri Smith, PDE deputy secretary for elementary and secondary schooling, mentioned in a launch final week.
“But this year’s results are anything but standard,” Smith mentioned. “We recognize that the global COVID-19 pandemic brought tremendous challenges to the school year, impacting students, teachers and staff alike, as we worked to protect the public health and safety of everyone in our classrooms. As Pennsylvania reports this federally required data, it urges caution in interpreting results given the unique learning conditions over the past few years.”
The outcomes of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments, Keystone Exams, and the Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessments have been made accessible almost three months after the PDE usually releases the data.
The state canceled evaluation assessments for the 2019-2020 faculty yr.