‘Nation’s report card’ shows drop in N.C. achievement scores since start of the pandemic

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV/AP) – The “nation’s report card” is showing that students across North Carolina had learning setbacks amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The findings from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which tested hundreds of thousands of fourth and eighth graders across the country this year, show that decades of academic progress were erased and racial disparities were widened.

It was the first time the test had been given since 2019, and it’s seen as the first nationally representative study of the pandemic’s impact on learning.

Related: Test scores show historic COVID setbacks for kids across US

In North Carolina, only 35% of fourth graders are proficient in math, according to the report. That number is 25% for eighth graders.

In reading, the report shows that 32% of N.C. fourth graders are where they should be. For eighth graders, it’s 26%.

When it comes to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools specifically, this year 33% of fourth graders are proficient in reading, compared to 39% before the pandemic.

In math, 35% of fourth graders are at grade level; that’s also down since 2019.

The report has similar dips for eighth graders in both subjects.

Thelma Byers-Bailey, the vice chair of CMS’ board of education, says this is to be expected following at-home learning and other issues students and teachers faced during the pandemic.

According to Byers-Bailey, CMS teachers are working to get students to perform at grade level.

“What they are doing is focusing on individual students. We’ve got to focus on each student individually,” she said. “They are doing a lot of small group work with students in say a group of four or five where the teachers can focus and say, OK, what is it that you’re missing?”

The NAEP test is typically given every two years. It was taken between January and March by a sample of students in every state, along with 26 of the nation’s largest school districts. Scores had been stalling even before the pandemic, but the new results show decreases on a scale not seen before.

“It is a serious wakeup call for us all,” Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, a branch of the Education Department, said in an interview. “In NAEP, when we experience a 1- or 2-point decline, we’re talking about it as a significant impact on a student’s achievement. In math, we experienced an 8-point decline — historic for this assessment.”

In South Carolina, only 34% of fourth graders are proficient in math, according to the report. That number is 22% for eighth graders.

In reading, the report shows that 32% of S.C. fourth graders are where they should be. For eighth graders, it’s 27%.

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