Natalie Stapert, K-12 Master Reading Coordinator 2024
Reading and Math Scores Drop – What Can Families and Schools Do?
The National Assessment of Educational Progress recently reported that math and reading scores have dropped to their lowest levels in decades. “The mathematics score for the lowest-performing students has returned to levels last seen in the 1970s, and the reading score for our lowest-performing students was actually lower than it was the very first year this data were collected, in 1971.”
As an educator with almost twenty years of classroom experience, this news is troubling. Certainly we know that the pandemic disrupted students’ education, in many cases for a year or more, and it takes three years of strong teaching to overcome a year of lost learning. Still, the declining scores are part of a trend that began long before the pandemic. According to the report, “Scores for 13-year-olds declined for the first time between 2012 and 2020, beginning a downward trajectory that has lasted for more than a decade, and has not been reversed.” Society expects schools to be more than a place to send children while adults work. It expects schools to be a place where children learn.
I coordinate the K-12 Reading Program at McLean School in Potomac, Maryland. McLean is a school that serves bright, college-bound students, including those with dyslexia, anxiety, ADHD, and organizational challenges that can make it difficult for them to learn to read. Like virtually all students everywhere, they want to be successful at school but need effective tools and strategies to achieve academically. For the past two years, we have been using data from the Acadience Reading Assessment to determine which instructional methods are most effective at helping students learn to read. We’ve tried many different approaches, and found some surprising results that if applied nationally can help reverse this downward trend.
For students who have a basic understanding of phonics, we found the most effective practice to improve both fluency and comprehension is for the student to read aloud to a partner for at least 10 minutes a day. At the beginning of this school year, 28% of our grade 8 class met the benchmark on the Acadience Reading Assessment. By incorporating at least 10 minutes of partner reading into our science-based reading instruction each day, we were able to increase that number to 44% at the middle of the year and 75% by the end of the year. By contrast, 18% of our grade 7 students started out at benchmark at the beginning of the year. The teacher did not require partner reading during the first half of the year, and at the middle of the year, 29% were on benchmark. During the second half of the year that teacher required partner reading, and by the end of the year 59% of the cohort met the benchmark standard. While we maintained all of the robust elements of science-based reading instruction, the addition of partner reading seems to have led to the increase in reading achievement.
This data is hardly conclusive, but it does suggest an obvious conclusion: students get better at reading when they practice consistently. Unfortunately, this year’s NAEP Assessment found that children are reading less on their own: “about one-third (31 percent) of 13-year-olds said they “never or hardly ever” read for fun in 2023.” In addition to the pandemic, less independent reading could be another factor contributing to declining reading performance. Families may have moved away from reading and towards spending time online, which could make it harder for children to do well at school. However, if we want students to become better readers, schools have to provide equitable opportunities for students to practice this important skill.
If schools and families are looking for ways to raise test scores and promote reading success, I highly recommend having students read aloud to a partner. It is a simple, inexpensive, and engaging way to get better at reading – one that could make a world of difference in the lives of young people across our country.