Teachers across the state are trying to help students who fell behind in their reading skills during remote learning.
Statewide, the achievement gap between Latino students and white students on the Smarter Balanced tests. Latino students in third grade saw a slightly steeper drop in test scores than third-graders overall. They went from 38% in 2019 to 31% of students meeting or exceeding standards in spring 2022. Black third-graders saw less of a decline, but they have the smallest percentage of students who met or exceeded English language arts standards, at 27% in spring 2022.
“We did very little phonics instruction last year, but I should’ve done more,” Grago said. “Now they definitely need it.”Even though many students are far below grade level in reading ability, California’s education system requires teachers to meet specific instruction standards for each grade. Because the state assesses districts on these standards through the Smarter Balanced tests, teachers feel unable to spend more time teaching students the material they may have missed in past years.
“I feel bad handing the middle school teachers these students. Because I don’t know how they’re going to make up the losses.”Educators and experts have widely referred to this missed instruction as “learning loss.” Teachers tasked with helping students catch up while meeting mandated standards feel students will never recover what they lost, especially in literacy.
Thompson’s students sit on the ground in front of her facing the white board. They’re reading a novel together called “Esperanza Rising,” about a Mexican family that immigrates to California during the Great Depression. One of her students is learning English and follows along with a Spanish version of the book. There are several students talking to each other instead of paying attention as Thompson tries to start a discussion about the novel’s characters.
“Children are like sponges,” she said. Before the pandemic, they used to be more embarrassed about having to meet with her, but now getting extra help has become more normalized. Thompson said that last year, the school had three reading specialists, but two moved to teaching classes. The school hasn’t been able to fill those positions, leaving Gonzalez as the sole specialist.
“There is no normal. It’s almost criminal to throw them back into the system and expect things to be normal.”South Whittier School District administrators are confident that test scores will bounce back closer to pre-pandemic levels by the spring. Rebecca Rodriguez, associate superintendent of educational services at South Whittier School District, said the 2021-22 school year was far from normal and not a good baseline.
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