Pandemic continues to hurt Hawaii public school students’ grades, attendance

Pandemic gaps in academic grades worsened slightly in multiple areas during the second quarter of the school year, while problems with learning and attendance persisted, according to new state Department of Education data.

Percentages of students receiving a failing grade in English or math worsened in four out of six data categories in a comparison of the first quarter, from Aug. 3 to Oct. 8, and second quarter, from Oct. 18 to Dec. 17, which coincided with the COVID-19 delta variant surge and the start of the omicron variant wave.

In addition, the majority of students tested at one or more grades below their grade level in “universal screener” assessments in math and English for Hawaii public school students in kindergarten through grade 8, although there were consistent improvements in the second quarter over the first quarter.

>> In English, 52.9% of elementary students and 61.3% of middle school students tested at one grade or more below their grade level.

>> In math, 60.5% of elementary students and 62.3% of middle school students tested at one grade or more below their grade level.

The rest tested at grade level or above.

High absenteeism continues to plague the schools, and “the number of students at risk of being chronically absent continues to be greater than pre-COVID numbers,” a DOE report issued by state schools interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi said.

“At the end of Quarter 2, 31% of all students and 40% of high-needs students (students who receive special education services, are English learners or are economically disadvantaged) were at risk of being chronically absent.”

The data comes from DOE reports that will be presented Thursday by Hayashi at meetings of several state Board of Education committees that are monitoring efforts to address pandemic effects on students and the spending of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief federal funds.

Students in the Hawaii public school system, as in school districts across the nation, are continuing to struggle to recover from the pandemic’s effects, including widespread isolation and loss of in-person learning in 2020 and the first half of 2021, and continued stress into 2022.

The DOE did not respond to Honolulu Star-Advertiser requests for interviews and pre-pandemic figures for comparison.

Grade slippage

In a DOE analysis of how student grades in math and English language arts changed from the first to second quarters, the data showed:

>> High school students with a failing grade in Eng­lish language arts rose a percentage point to 11%, and those with a failing grade in math increased by 2 percentage points to 12%.

>> Middle school students with a failing grade in Eng­lish rose by a percentage point to 7%, and those with a failing grade in math stood in both quarters at 6%.

>> Elementary school students with a failing grade in math increased by 2 percentage points to 16%. Those with a failing grade in English decreased by a percentage point to 22%. It was the only category showing improvement, but it still was by far the area with the largest number of students with a failing grade, accounting for more than 1 in 5 elementary school students.

Students classified as “high needs” struggled academically even more during the second quarter. Some examples provided:

>> Elementary school students with disabilities was the category showing the most significant decline in academic progress in the second quarter. Those with a failing grade in English rose 5 percentage points to 55%, and those with a failing grade in math increased 6 percentage points to 42%.

>> Among elementary school English learners, students with a failing grade in English rose a percentage point to 39%, and those with a failing grade in math rose 3 percentage points to 29%.

>> Among economically disadvantaged high school students, those with a failing grade increased 2 percentage points to 16% in English and math.

The report also broke out data by race and ethnicity. The three groups with the highest percentages of students with failing grades in the second quarter were Hispanic, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander. The Pacific Islander group lagged the furthest behind; for example, among elementary school students, 39% had a failing grade in English, and 31% in math.

Data on Micronesian students was broken out in the report as a subset of the Pacific Islander group, and they showed the highest rate of failing grades. For example, in the second quarter, elementary students with a failing grade in Eng­lish rose 2 percentage points to 48%, and in math, rose 4 percentage points to 39%.

The second-quarter grades are meant to serve as a progress report and might not be representative of a student’s final grades, the report noted.

Pandemic challenges

Multiple pandemic-related issues disrupted students’ academic progress during the second quarter, one DOE report said, including the surge of the delta variant of COVID-19; fear of exposure, hospitalization and death; difficulty in obtaining testing kits; a disproportionately high impact of the delta variant on Pacific Islanders, who represent 4% of the population but accounted for 25% of the cases; and the CDC issuing its recommendation for COVID-19 vaccinations for children ages 5-12 starting only Nov. 2, as previously elementary-age children were not eligible for vaccines.

Hayashi in the report said the DOE “has focused its response to pandemic related challenges on providing students with what they needed to thrive and grow.”

“Schools have continued to help students readjust to being in the classroom; reestablish their social identities after isolation; cope with ongoing physical, emotional, and economic challenges; and remedy the negative effects of interrupted teaching and learning. It will take an extended amount of time to provide appropriate interventions and support to students who have experienced trauma.”

One bright spot in the data was some recovery in school climate and social-­emotional learning, Hayashi said.

In a survey given in the fall and again in the winter, “students have reported growth in self-efficacy and self-management, with the exception of students in grades 6-12. Students have also reported growth in emotion regulation, grit, and sense of belonging,” Hayashi said.

Strategies the department has used to help students recover from the effects of the pandemic, he said, include the hiring of 107 school health support staff; expansion of the state distance-learning program; increased mental health supports; a more robust summer program; and professional development for teachers.