Hawaii public school test scores decline due to COVID-19 pandemic

The challenges of the coronavirus pandemic were seen in the latest results of Hawaii’s public school test scores as proficiency in language arts, math and science all suffered during the 2020-21 school year, according to state education officials.

The results are part of the just-released public school accountability system known as Strive HI, which measures student proficiency, growth, college and career readiness and more.

Math took the biggest test-score hit with a proficiency decline of 11 percentage points, falling from 43% in 2019 to 32% in 2021, while science scores decreased 9 percentage points from 44% in 2019 to 35% in 2021.

Language arts proficiency was down 4 percentage points, dropping from 54% in 2019 to 50% in 2021.

“The results are troubling but somewhat expected given the trouble over the last few years,” said David Miyashiro, executive director of HawaiiKidsCAN, an education advocacy nonprofit.

State Board of Education member Kili Namau‘u called the results “dismal.”

“We really need to have a baseline as to where the schools are at and what is needed to help them,” she said.

State Department of Education administrators said Hawaii was not alone in its subpar showing for 2020-21 as the data mirrored downward trends in student performance across the nation linked to impacts from the pandemic.

Interim schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi said the performance results were captured at a time when on average 88% of students were learning in blended or virtual learning environments.

“We know the pandemic has had and continues to have a major impact on student learning,” Hayashi told BOE members Thursday. “While there are some bright spots, the overall results emphasize the importance of having students back in the classroom for in-person learning and will help inform our plans for targeted supports and resources.”

Hayashi added that the department is committed to bridging gaps in student performance.

“We already have learning loss mitigation plans in place and stand ready to do what it takes to ensure our students get back on track and succeed,” he said.

Strive HI was created in the 2012-13 school year as the state’s locally designed school improvement and accountability tool offering more flexibility than the former federal No Child Left Behind law. The system includes multiple measures of school and student performance and illuminates achievement gaps, chronic absenteeism, academic growth and graduation rates.

For the 2020-21 school year, which ended in May, the U.S. Department of Education offered states a penalty waiver from certain requirements, including the minimum 95% testing participation rate in a move that acknowledged the difficulty of administering tests during a challenging school year of blended and distance learning.

Hawaii officials reported that 85% of students statewide tested in language arts and math.

Asked why math scores were especially poor, Assistant Superintendent Teri Ushijima said the subject of math is built on foundational skills.

“When there are gaps (in learning), it makes it more difficult for students to be able to be on grade level,” she said.

Taking a closer look at the performance of ethnic and other subgroups, Assistant Superintendent Cara Tanimura said Asian students were the most resilient against the pandemic in growth, while Micronesian students were the most negatively affected.

Special-education students increased 4 percentage points for math in 2021, the highest of all the subgroups tracked, she said, but they also demonstrated the lowest growth for language arts.

Micronesians, Pacific Islanders and homeless students registered the highest rates of absenteeism, Tanimura said, while Asian, Filipino, Black and white students all managed to keep chronic absenteeism rates below 15%, which was the state average in 2019 and the three years prior.

Here are some other Strive HI results:

>> Third grade literacy (reading near, at or above grade level) increased by 1 percentage point to 76% in 2021 from 75% in 2019.

>> Eighth grade literacy (reading near, at or above grade level) increased by 6 percentage points to 77% in 2021 from 71% in 2019.

>> Ninth grade promotions decreased to 85% in 2021 from 93% in 2020.

>> Career and Technical Education program completion increased to 61% in 2021 from 58% in 2020.

>> The graduation rate increased for the third-straight year, to 86% in 2020 from 85% in 2019.

>> College-going rate decreased by 5 percentage points, dropping to 50% in 2021 from 55% in 2020.