National reading scores are at all time lows

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I blame parents giving their children devices before they learn to read

I would love to remove all devices but the teachers keep assigning homework in apps. Get rid of the garbage apps.

I agree there is a little too much dependence on apps (thanks to underfunded & overcrowded schools), but Lexia is a great app.

Lexia is awful. My 6th grader has her 2nd grade sister do her assignments because it's so easy. It goes so so slowly.

At they beginning when they first introduced Lexia they let kids move ahead if they passed a placement test, but now they require kids to do Lexia for their grade level. It's so remedial. A total waste of time.

Lexia is not awful.

It’s a tool that can either be used effectively or not.

There's not more than one way to use it. It's a fixed thing that's terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They need to get screens out of k-8 and bring back real books and textbooks for k-12.

I agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:also closing schools for (in some areas) over 2 years didn't do us any favors.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/students-aren-t-recovering-from-covid-test-scores-are-getting-worse/ar-AA1y32Zf?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=bed906f67f484690924890be737eb4a1&ei=40

Fcking liar.

Schools were not closed for over two years.

NP. School buildings may not have been closed for two full years, but if you don't think that the lack of in-person learning for more than a year played a role in declines, you aren't being honest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:also closing schools for (in some areas) over 2 years didn't do us any favors.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/students-aren-t-recovering-from-covid-test-scores-are-getting-worse/ar-AA1y32Zf?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=bed906f67f484690924890be737eb4a1&ei=40

Fcking liar.

Schools were not closed for over two years.

NP. School buildings may not have been closed for two full years, but if you don't think that the lack of in-person learning for more than a year played a role in declines, you aren't being honest.

The 4th graders being tested had virtual kindergarten. It's crazy to think that didn't have an effect on learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but scores are also down in math, not just reading. In fact, the decline started in 2018, pre-pandemic. So covid doesn't explain it completely, and neither does the lack of reading books (since math is also down, at about the same rate).

But the timing corresponds perfectly with the point at which most schools completed their redesigns of curriculum to cater to math and reading tests, as a result of NCLB (and later, Race to the Top). It also corresponds to the rise of vouchers and charters, which were part of NCLB.

The timing also corresponds with the rise of tech as a classroom instruction and practice tool. 25 years ago students in my school got on a math program twice a week for 15 minutes. It’s easily 30 minutes a day now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:EdTech is an enormous boondoggle. It is a cash cow where the kids lose. Administrations LOVE to spend other ppl's $$$ and have zero accountability. Teacher are left to clean up the mess in the classroom.

Swishy privates will ALL be tech-free within a couple of years. Only the great unwashed will be left with EdTech ruling the roost. Sorry poor people.

Meh, our private was all in on Lucy Caulkins back in the day. Being on the forefront of a trend isn’t always better.

Agreed but in this case, the trend (books and paper) is a proven methodology. So, hardly trendy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I blame parents giving their children devices before they learn to read

I would love to remove all devices but the teachers keep assigning homework in apps. Get rid of the garbage apps.

I agree there is a little too much dependence on apps (thanks to underfunded & overcrowded schools), but Lexia is a great app.

Lexia is awful. My 6th grader has her 2nd grade sister do her assignments because it's so easy. It goes so so slowly.

At they beginning when they first introduced Lexia they let kids move ahead if they passed a placement test, but now they require kids to do Lexia for their grade level. It's so remedial. A total waste of time.

Lexia is not awful.

It’s a tool that can either be used effectively or not.

There's not more than one way to use it. It's a fixed thing that's terrible.

Huh? Teachers can modify it if desired - placement, editing activities, etc. Bump up to PowerUp if they were still on Core, etc.

It’s a good tool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:also closing schools for (in some areas) over 2 years didn't do us any favors.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/students-aren-t-recovering-from-covid-test-scores-are-getting-worse/ar-AA1y32Zf?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=bed906f67f484690924890be737eb4a1&ei=40

Fcking liar.

Schools were not closed for over two years.

NP. School buildings may not have been closed for two full years, but if you don't think that the lack of in-person learning for more than a year played a role in declines, you aren't being honest.

Are there impacts from COVID? Yes.

Is the PP a fcking liar? Also yes.

Schools were not closed for two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but scores are also down in math, not just reading. In fact, the decline started in 2018, pre-pandemic. So covid doesn't explain it completely, and neither does the lack of reading books (since math is also down, at about the same rate).

But the timing corresponds perfectly with the point at which most schools completed their redesigns of curriculum to cater to math and reading tests, as a result of NCLB (and later, Race to the Top). It also corresponds to the rise of vouchers and charters, which were part of NCLB.

I noticed this, too! I'm in Charlotte and was looking at school performance, and every school I looked out, no matter how well it did on testing in in 2016-2017, saw a drop in 2017-2018. Some schools managed to improve a bit for 2018-2019, but by and large were still below where they were in 16-17. I was wondering if it was a local thing, but apparently its nationwide.

Then, of course, the bottom just dropped out with Covid. 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 aren't public, and the results for 2021-2022 were, well, awful. Scores still haven't rebounded to where they were in 2018-2019, never mind 2016-2017. Even the best (aka, whitest and richest) elementary schools are still struggling to get back to those pre-pandemic but post-16-17 levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I blame parents giving their children devices before they learn to read

I would love to remove all devices but the teachers keep assigning homework in apps. Get rid of the garbage apps.

I agree there is a little too much dependence on apps (thanks to underfunded & overcrowded schools), but Lexia is a great app.

Lexia is awful. My 6th grader has her 2nd grade sister do her assignments because it's so easy. It goes so so slowly.

At they beginning when they first introduced Lexia they let kids move ahead if they passed a placement test, but now they require kids to do Lexia for their grade level. It's so remedial. A total waste of time.

Lexia is not awful.

It’s a tool that can either be used effectively or not.

Yes it is. It moves incredibly slowly. It also has set levels so if a kid needs to work on one skill, but excels at others, they still have to wade through hours and hours of content that is far too easy. And if you click the wrong thing (usually trying to rush and move faster) then you have to sit through asinine recordings to "teach" the missed content. My kids equate Lexia to torture and I agree with them.

Talk to your kids’ teachers. They can adjust the levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:also closing schools for (in some areas) over 2 years didn't do us any favors.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/students-aren-t-recovering-from-covid-test-scores-are-getting-worse/ar-AA1y32Zf?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=bed906f67f484690924890be737eb4a1&ei=40

Fcking liar.

Schools were not closed for over two years.

NP. School buildings may not have been closed for two full years, but if you don't think that the lack of in-person learning for more than a year played a role in declines, you aren't being honest.

Are there impacts from COVID? Yes.

Is the PP a fcking liar? Also yes.

Schools were not closed for two years.

+1 Name one school district that was closed in March 2022. Heck, even in September 2021.

Just one.

Even being virtual for the entirety of the 2020-2021 school year was NOT that common. But even for the schools/districts that were 100% virtual during '20-'21, that equates to, at most, 14 or 15 months (March 2020-May/June 2021). I'm not saying it's good. Not at all. But yes, agreed, PP is not being truthful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids in the 80s and 90s learned grammar, writing and reading without (an app).

Bring back paper textbooks and hand writing. Drop the Chromebooks and EdTech crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I blame parents giving their children devices before they learn to read

I would love to remove all devices but the teachers keep assigning homework in apps. Get rid of the garbage apps.

I agree there is a little too much dependence on apps (thanks to underfunded & overcrowded schools), but Lexia is a great app.

Lexia is awful. My 6th grader has her 2nd grade sister do her assignments because it's so easy. It goes so so slowly.

At they beginning when they first introduced Lexia they let kids move ahead if they passed a placement test, but now they require kids to do Lexia for their grade level. It's so remedial. A total waste of time.

Lexia is not awful.

It’s a tool that can either be used effectively or not.

Yes it is. It moves incredibly slowly. It also has set levels so if a kid needs to work on one skill, but excels at others, they still have to wade through hours and hours of content that is far too easy. And if you click the wrong thing (usually trying to rush and move faster) then you have to sit through asinine recordings to "teach" the missed content. My kids equate Lexia to torture and I agree with them.

Talk to your kids’ teachers. They can adjust the levels.

They won't. Levels correspond to grade levels and they no longer allow kids to work above their grade level because then they run out of levels in upper grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Horrific. This will have massive, long term consequences for these kids and their communities.

The percentage of eighth graders who have “below basic” reading skills according to NAEP was the largest it has been in the exam’s three-decade history — 33 percent. The percentage of fourth graders at “below basic” was the largest in 20 years, at 40 percent.

American Children’s Reading Skills Reach New Lows https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/29/us/reading-skills-naep.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

- all while Biden/Kamala played fiddle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I blame parents giving their children devices before they learn to read

I would love to remove all devices but the teachers keep assigning homework in apps. Get rid of the garbage apps.

I agree there is a little too much dependence on apps (thanks to underfunded & overcrowded schools), but Lexia is a great app.

Lexia is awful. My 6th grader has her 2nd grade sister do her assignments because it's so easy. It goes so so slowly.

At they beginning when they first introduced Lexia they let kids move ahead if they passed a placement test, but now they require kids to do Lexia for their grade level. It's so remedial. A total waste of time.

Lexia is not awful.

It’s a tool that can either be used effectively or not.

Yes it is. It moves incredibly slowly. It also has set levels so if a kid needs to work on one skill, but excels at others, they still have to wade through hours and hours of content that is far too easy. And if you click the wrong thing (usually trying to rush and move faster) then you have to sit through asinine recordings to "teach" the missed content. My kids equate Lexia to torture and I agree with them.

Talk to your kids’ teachers. They can adjust the levels.

They won't. Levels correspond to grade levels and they no longer allow kids to work above their grade level because then they run out of levels in upper grades.

No - wrong reason.

The school administrators and school boards are refusing to allow kids to work above grade level, citing “equity” - which is part of DEI.

I will post a few examples from national news sources: