LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – When test results for Michigan’s lower school reading and math scores came out, the third graders indicated a large drop in performance, but a recent study shows they were not the only ones affected. 

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released on Monday, showed that fourth and eighth graders scored lower than previous years too.  Fourth graders tested the lowest in reading scores in the past 30 years according to NAEP data.  

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“The results in today’s NAEP … are appalling and unacceptable,” U.S. Secretary of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a press conference.

“They’re a reminder of the impact this pandemic had on our learners and the important work we must do now for our students. This is a moment of truth for education, how we respond to this will determine not only our recovery, but our nation’s standing in the world.”

He also called for schools to utilize research supported ways to help students better recover. 

During the pandemic, Gov. Whitmer closed schools from spring 2019 till the end of the 2020 school year, though some schools including Ann Arbor, Detroit, Flint and Grand Rapids, chose to remain remote for more than half the 2020-21 school year.

While normally administered every two years, the NAEP was delayed due to the pandemic, and was given last spring instead.  

In Michigan, 5,000 students took the reading tests (2,500 in both fourth and eighth grade) and 5,300 students took the math test (2,700 in fourth grade and 2,600 in eighth). The National Assessment Governing board, which administers the NAEP, did not immediately release the names of districts that participated in the testing this past spring, making it difficult to determine if the schools involved operated remotely through much of the pandemic according to the Record Eagle paper. 

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The NAEP testing results were consistent with the M-STEP testing results, in which students scored worse on the 2021 version than when it was last administered in 2019.  

Michigan’s fourth graders’ average scale score placed them 40th overall in the nation for reading and 35th for math, while eighth graders scored 23rd overall in reading and 25th in math. 

“In spite of the extraordinary efforts of staff and students, the pandemic was very disruptive to learning,” State Superintendent Michael Rice said in a statement. “What teachers do daily in classrooms across the state is incredibly important, and disruptions of any sort, let alone those associated with a pandemic, do harm.”

Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Tudor Dixon and some parents have called for the resignation of Rice largely because of the sexual education material which was being taught without parental knowledge in some cases, but also because of low test scores. 

There is “pretty conclusive evidence both in Michigan and across the country that students who learn remotely for longer fared worse in terms of achievement growth over both the 2021 school year and those effects lasted into the 21-22 school year,” Director of Education Policy Innovation Collaborative at Michigan State University Katharine Strunk told Bridge Michigan.

Compared to other states, Michigan’s scores were considered roughly equal to the national average in fourth and eighth grades for reading and math.

According to Bridge Michigan, a greater proportion of Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana students learned in-person during the pandemic in analyzed state-by-state data.  

Contrarily, Michigan opted for local control of districts who decided to go remote for certain periods of time depending on health department recommendations and governor orders.  

The state legislature needs to provide greater investments to expand high-quality, frequent tutoring for students, especially in the early grades; to decrease class sizes in early elementary grades, particularly in high poverty communities with large early elementary class sizes; to fund more teachers in LETRS early literacy skills; and to create regional parent and family literacy centers, according to Dr. Rice.

Nonetheless, there were broad differences among states, with Michigan students often far more likely to be learning from home. In January 2021, for instance, 23 percent of Michigan schools were fully in-person, compared to 47 percent in Ohio, 54 percent in Wisconsin and 76 percent in Indiana.

Rice also called on the legislature to help address teacher staffing challenges by supporting a bill that reduces barriers for out-of-state teachers to teach in Michigan according to a press release. He also supports Senate Bill 942, which relates to out-of-state school counselors and House Bill 6411, which provides more flexibility for who can be a substitute teacher.