Hawaii students outpace most of U.S. in pandemic test scores, study finds

While the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt public-school reading test scores in almost all other states, Hawaii was one of only two states where the reading scores for grades 3 through 8 have stayed relatively stable, according to a new independent analysis called the Education Recovery Scorecard.

And even as math scores declined in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., between 2019 and this year, Hawaii had the fourth- smallest decrease, according to the data released Thursday by the collaboration between the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University.

Hawaii students have gained about one-tenth of a grade level in reading and lost one-third of a grade level in math since 2019, the Education Recovery Scorecard data indicated.

By comparison, the average public school student in America lost the equivalent of nearly a quarter of a school year in reading and lost more than half a school year in math.

The Associated Press received exclusive advance access to the report, which the researchers call the largest and most detailed data set yet available on the subject.

The researchers took state standardized test scores for public school students from 2019 and 2022, including those from the recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, and converted them to a common metric called a grade-level equivalent. This enables comparisons of learning loss even among states that use different tests and have different standards for what is considered “proficient,” the researchers said.

Tammi Chun, deputy schools superintendent at the state Department of Education, attributed Hawaii’s relatively strong performance in reading to “our decade- long focus on literacy with teacher training, instructional coaches supporting teachers, and consistent use of curriculum with challenging text at grade level.”

State Board of Education Chair Bruce Voss also credited the public school system’s strong emphasis on returning to in-person learning starting in the fall of 2021 — “We did that faster than almost anyone,” he said — and the grit and hard work of Hawaii’s educators. But he acknowledged much work remains to close the learning gaps for those students who are lagging further behind, such as those who are economically disadvantaged.

Chun added in a statement that the new analysis adds to growing evidence of Hawaii’s comparatively strong performance in the face of pandemic challenges. “Hawaii’s Smarter Balanced English language arts scores were the highest among 10 states reporting 2021-22 scores, and our improvement over time on the NAEP has been nationally recognized as one of the highest in the country,” she said. “We are committed to building on that momentum as we take a deep look at our student performance indicators so that we can target more support and interventions to improve learning and achievement for all students.”

Among the ways the Educational Opportunity Project differs from the recently released NAEP is that while the NAEP reported findings from a sample of the nation’s fourth and eighth graders, the Education Recovery Scorecard includes data from all students who took state standardized tests in third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade. It also includes detailed data on 3,760 school districts (because Hawaii is the nation’s only statewide district, it was not included in that portion). All scores are available at edopportunity.org.

In the Education Recovery Scorecard, a grade-level equivalent score of “-1” translates into one grade level lost between 2019 and 2022. Among the findings:

>> Reading: Hawaii was second best in the nation, with students’ reading scores rising between 2019 and this year by a grade-level equivalent of 0.10, meaning one-tenth of a grade level. Louisiana was ranked No. 1, with a rise in grade-level equivalent of 0.11. They were the only two states with overall gains in reading. But because their increases were smaller than their statistical margins of error, they “basically stayed the same,” The Associated Press reported.

Maine, Delaware, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Oregon had the biggest declines in average reading scores. Maine, which fared the worst, saw its students average -0.793, meaning they fell more than three-fourths of a grade level in reading.

>> Math: Not a single state increased overall average math scores between 2019 and 2022.

Alabama had the smallest decrease, at -0.147. Hawaii’s decrease was the fourth smallest, at -0.325, meaning students’ math scores fell by about one-third of a grade level.

The biggest declines in math scores were reported in Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico and Washington, D.C. Delaware students fell by nearly one and a third grade levels in math, at -1.29.

The pandemic shift to online learning played a major role in the test score declines, the researchers said, but students nationwide lost significant ground even in places where they returned quickly to in-person learning, especially in math scores in low-income communities. “When you have a massive crisis, the worst effects end up being felt by the people with the least resources,” said Stanford education professor Sean Reardon, who compiled and analyzed the data along with Harvard economist Thomas Kane.

The implications for kids’ futures are alarming: Lower test scores are predictors of lower wages and higher rates of incarceration and teen pregnancy, Kane said.

Education advocates hope the new data will inspire more urgency to direct funding to the students who suffered the largest setbacks, whether it’s academic or other support. School systems nationwide are still in the process of spending the nearly $190 billion in federal relief money allocated for recovery — a sum that some experts have said fails to address the extent of learning loss in schools.

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Associated Press education writers Bianca Vazquez Toness and Sharon Lurye contributed to this report.

GRADING HIGH VERSUS PEERS

So far in the COVID-19 pandemic, Hawaii students in grades 3-8 have performed better than their peers in most states. Hawaii students have gained about one-tenth of a grade level in reading and lost one-third of a grade level in math. By comparison, the average student in America lost the equivalent of nearly a quarter of a school year in reading and more than half a school year in math. In the report, “-1” is the equivalent of losing a full grade level.

Reading

1. Louisiana +0.110

2. Hawaii +0.103

3. Alabama -0.005

4. Alaska -0.024

5. Arizona -0.056

Math

1. Alabama -0.147

2. Iowa -0.227

3. Illinois -0.306

4. Hawaii -0.325

5. Nebraska -0.349

Source: Education Recovery Scorecard