The Arkansas Department of Education released preliminary ACT Aspire test results Thursday and the numbers are grim. Elementary, middle and high school students are struggling to return to pre-pandemic test scores, according to the report.
State law requires all public school students in grades 3-10 to complete the ACT Aspire each spring. The assessment measures English, reading, writing, math and science skills. Arkansas first administered the ACT Aspire in 2016, but this spring marked the last time students will take the test. Moving forward, the ADE is developing an Arkansas-specific test called the Arkansas Teaching and Learning Assessment System (ATLAS), which will be implemented for the first time in spring 2024.
The 2023 assessment showed “ little to modest increases from 2022, with many grades and subject areas reflecting decreases,” an ADE press release said.
Statewide, 32.2% of third grade students who took the 2023 assessment met the benchmark for reading, slipping from 35% in 2022. Pre-COVID scores were higher: In 2019, about 39% of third graders hit the mark.
Test scores have dropped around the country since the pandemic began. Data from a test administered last fall, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, showed major declines in both math and reading scores when compared to 2019. But Arkansas can’t afford to lose ground — its education levels have historically ranked near the bottom in the country.
ADE Secretary Jacob Oliva used the third-grade data point to reference the LEARNS Act, the education overhaul championed by Gov. Sarah Sanders. Sanders says the new law will help student performance, especially in literacy, by focusing on third-grade reading levels. Sanders said Tuesday at a Little Rock Rotary Club meeting that if children can’t read by the third grade, they are set up for a lifetime of failure.
“These scores demonstrate the profound need for the transformative change offered by the Arkansas LEARNS Act,” Oliva said in Thursday’s press release. “These results are a wake-up call, and we must stop the red-light, green-light tug of war with implementation and act with urgency. It’s time we move forward and focus on evidence-based approaches outlined in LEARNS that will result in increased student learning. Our students deserve nothing less.”
Compared to 2019, the new scores consistently show a higher percentage of students in each grade needing more support. In other words, the number of low-performing students increased. For example, about 21% of students in the 10th grade in 2019 needed support in English. In 2023, that figure was 25.5%.
The data also showed a lower percentage of students with a proficient or advanced score. Nearly 54% of fifth-grade students in 2019 met the math benchmark, but that number fell to 47% in 2023.
The Sanders administration and her allies seem confident the LEARNS Act will boost these scores. Time will tell.
Complete scores from the 2023 ACT Aspire will be available in the fall.
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