The COVID-19 Pandemic caused many schools to shift to online learning, but there were many consequences. As a result, many students’ learning was deeply impacted.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Math and reading test is taken by over 450,000 students nationwide. 450,000 students take the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a math and reading test. The NAEP math scores came out a week ago. 8th-grade students suffered the steepest drop since the 1990s showing the long-term implications of the Pandemic on children’s education.
There have been drops as big as 15 points in many schools, especially in areas with a high population of people of color. According to the NAEP, a 10-point drop equals roughly a year of learning.
The drop in math scores has raised concern for US teachers and the impact it will have on their curriculum. Many teachers believe in the near future. There will be a shift in the math curriculum to aid the students struggling in math due to the Pandemic.
Nick Sacco, a math teacher at PVHS, has been a part of the math department for the past decade. Sacco recognizes the rigor of PVHS math classes. “PV has always held higher scores above the country’s average scores due to the class rigor. I have seen many students who come from other states and struggle due to the change in rigor between schools,” he said.
The state of Iowa will not see much difference within its educational system, as the scores indicate merely a -1 point drop. Due to such an insignificant change across the state, PV will not notice a big difference.
States like Iowa saw nearly no effect from the COVID-19 Pandemic due to Kim Reynolds’ decision to reopen in-person learning at the beginning of Aug. 2020, while most other states kept their schools closed until 2021. While there were dissenting opinions at the time regarding Reynolds’ decision to reopen schools, Reynolds’ decision to reopen Iowa has put Iowa schools above the rest of the nation.
The school’s culture of pushing oneself to be their best self through academics differentiates its scores from most of the nation. Many PVHS students take higher math classes due to the number of AP and dual credit classes offered. The resources provided by the school provide many students with the foundation to be successful in math and science.
Senior Josh Thomas enjoyed hybrid learning. “A lot of people did not like hybrids, but I did. Hybrid gave me more time to study for the difficult courses I took and just made my schedule more flexible in general.” Many PV students took more challenging math classes during the Pandemic due to the extra time they had in their daily schedules during the Pandemic.
Though we saw many concerning scores across the country PV will remain mainly unimpacted due to its rigor in classes and the state’s decisions during the pandemic.
