The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) recently released the 2024 report card for fourth and eighth grade students, showing a continued decline in reading scores nationwide. Many educators were hoping for an improvement but were not surprised by the results, considering the challenges students faced during the pandemic. University of Saint Thomas education professor Chelda Smith Kondo noted that the shift to increased screen time had a significant impact on students’ ability to read, understand, and apply information.
Although the achievement gap between high-performing and low-performing students is growing, Minnesota students performed slightly better than the national average in math and reading. Education Minnesota emphasized the need for continued investment in the educator workforce to improve academic achievement levels and address disparities among students of color. Despite facing disruptions due to the pandemic, students in Minnesota showed no significant decline in reading and math scores. The organization called for reducing class sizes, addressing teacher shortages, and providing better pay and benefits to support student success and equity in education.
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