More students in the upper elementary grades have fallen further below grade level than before COVID, the latest analysis from testing company NWEA warns.
The number of students unlikely to reach end-of-year proficiency means instruction has grown significantly more challenging for teachers in classrooms that remain as academically diverse as before the pandemic, contend.
“With more students starting further behind, teachers must help many achieve nearly three times the typical annual academic growtha herculean task,” said Dr. Megan Kuhfeld, director of growth modeling and analytics at NWEA.
Because pre-pandemic approaches to intervention may not be enough to accelerate academic growth, teachers needprofessional learning and preparation programs that address today’s challenges, the report points out.
The researchers recommend that district leaders:
- Build schedules that protect time for small-group instruction and collaborative planning.
- Provide practical, job-embedded PD where teachers can rehearse and refine new approaches using their own curriculum.
- Use interim data in simple routines to check progress and adjust instruction along the way.
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“Teachers must leverage every single minute of a day to grouping students flexibly, choosing the right scaffolds, checking for understanding, and adjusting in real time to drive the needed academic growth,” said Jenna Talos, former teacher and current instructional coach at NWEA.
In the fall of 2019, nearly two-thirds of the students in a typical fifth-grade math class were not on track for year-end proficiency. About a quarter would have been expected to reach grade level, while just 13% could be classified as “advanced.”
Five years later, the number of off-track students needing more helpclimbed over 70%, the report found. “Even modest percentage shifts like this matter instructionally because they increase the number of students who need accelerated growth within an already diverse classroom,” the report states.
Students are also farther from proficiency. Just before COVID, off-track students were about 2.45 years behind in math. Now, these students need 2.65 years of growth in a single year to reach grade level.
“When more students require sustained acceleration at the same time, teachers need support structures that reflect that reality,” the report concludes. “They should not be expected to manage these demands alone.”
Technical question:Why schools should worry about the AI-adoption gap
