New data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows the nation’s continuing struggles with COVID-era student learning loss.
The Nation’s Report Card saw middle school student test scores nationally this school year drop nine points in math and four points in reading compared to 2019-2020.
And in Delaware, that trend is even more pronounced. From 2019 to 2022, 8th graders here saw a 7 point drop in reading and 13 point drop in math.
Rodel President and CEO Paul Herdman says this wasn’t unexpected- but requires urgent action in both long and short term solutions.
“Every teacher in every grade level from earliest grades to higher education knows that there will be a legacy effect from the 2 year window we had with COVID,” he said.
The Rodel Foundation says addressing COVID-era learning losses requires a holistic approach.
It calls for high-dosage tutoring, a stronger focus in K-3 special education, and improving student mental health as short-term solutions - many of which are already receiving state and federal attention.
This includes $3.9 million in federal funding to increase access to high-dosage tutoring through Reading Assist, $4.8 million in federal funding through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to support student mental health services, and state-level investments and legislation focused on early childhood and special education.
Herdman says long-term solutions require more work - including modernizing Delaware’s education funding system.
“If the system for how you can spend your dollars is very constrained, it makes it more difficult to be responsive to the needs of students. So we’re big proponents of looking at how we fund the education system, and looking to modernize it to make it more flexible to meet the needs of students.”
While this issue has been addressed in the past, Rodel believes it requires more attention on a structural level. When an overhaul of the system was attempted in the past, an agreement was reached that sent more state funding to critical issues in the education system. However, most of those funding initiatives did not look beyond 2025.
Rodel says other long-term solutions include furthering investments in early learning, and improving teacher recruitment, retention, and diversity.
The later solution may be more difficult.
As the state continues to recover from pandemic-related teacher shortages, teacher recruitment and retention is an urgent problem, but requires care in finding a sustainable solution.
Hiring and retaining teachers that reflect the communities they serve requires structural change in salaries, recruitment efforts, and areas like salary and recruitment efforts- which are not quick fixes.
On the topic of salary, Delaware teachers earn an average starting salary of just over $43,000.
In the neighboring state of New Jersey, teachers can earn over $10,000 more upon being hired, with their starting salary at $54,000.
Lawmakers have been working on solutions to increase teaching salaries in the First State, but the timeline does not match the urgency of the issue.
In January, Gov. John Carney announced plans to increase teacher salaries by nine percent in the FY 2024 operating budget, along with three percent raises for other educators, including paraprofessionals. That budget has passed both chambers and is head to Carney for his signature.
As for recruitment efforts, Delaware is working to bolster its teacher pipeline- helping young people interested in becoming teachers get the resources to do so, and placing them in local schools.
While student scores suggest a grim educational landscape in the First State, they only serve as piece of data in a complicated picture.
Moving forward, state and federal legislators, state agencies, school districts, and educational organizations remain committed to tackling each issue that arises as a result of the COVID pandemic.
