A new report shows reading scores have been dropping sharply all over the country for the past decade, in 83% of school districts.
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The report calls it a “learning recession,” and the biggest fall in scores has happened in Florida. Compiled by researchers at Stanford and Harvard, the annual Education Scorecard focused on grades 3-8.
By the state of Florida’s standards, Broward and Miami-Dade public school students are succeeding at the highest levels, as each school district is A-rated. I asked Broward’s superintendent, Dr. Howard Hepburn, what he intends to tell parents when they ask about this report, which shows Florida’s kids are last in the nation.
“I will have them look at Broward County Public Schools data, and it will show that we are outranking more than half of the nation’s school districts when it comes to reading and math,” Hepburn said.
The Education Scorecard used data from 35 states and showed that over the past 10 years, student performance in reading and math dropped almost everywhere in the country. I asked Miami-Dade School Board member Dr. Steve Gallon what should be learned from the report.
“I think we need to focus more on the things that are proven, sound practices,” Gallon said.
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Miami-Dade County Public Schools sent us a statement, saying the district has been “consistently outperforming the state and comparable urban districts in both math and reading.”
Gallon says the report’s conclusions deserve a serious look.
“Our parents are very confident in the work we’re doing but we need to look at this report as an opportunity to improve and I hope that’s done at the state level as well,” Gallon said. “We need to make more investments in early childhood, many of our students who are assessed at the third, fifth, and 8th grade levels, their skill sets are developed early on.”
The report cites several reasons for the nationwide decline, including too much smartphone use, the impacts of social media, the lingering effects of the pandemic, a lack of academic accountability in some states after the No Child Left Behind law expired.
Another factor mentioned is too much reliance on technology in the classroom. I asked Hepburn if he foresees a return to more traditional pencil and paper exercises in classrooms instead of computers.
“I see a mix of both,” Hepburn said. “So it’s a fine balance, but I know one thing, we have to continue to innovate as school districts and we have to continue to evolve because society is evolving around us and the demands are different than they were 10 years ago.”
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