Test scores rising as kids return to classrooms: report

A new report by Renaissance Learning found that test scores are rising as students return to classrooms. 

The report released Wednesday found the growth from the fall to winter in the 2021-2022 school year was greater than the same time period in the previous year. 

In the 2021-2022 academic year, most students across the country were back in the classroom after the previous year saw a significant number of children learning from home. 

The growth still “remains below typical growth in most grade levels” in previous years before the pandemic, the report said. The pandemic required millions of students across the country to shift to virtual learning. 

Although growth within the current academic school year is better than last, children went into the 2021-2022 school year with a lower overall performance than the previous year.

At the start of this academic year, students began further behind in their academics than they did in the 2020 to 2021 school year. 

“What we consistently found across all grade levels was that this year students typically began school somewhat lower in terms of their overall performance,” Dr. Gene Kerns, Vice President and Chief Academic Officer of the company, said. “That was the bad news — performance down a bit more year over year.”

Renaissance Learning says the results are “suggesting that the pandemic continues to have a compounding effect on student achievement” as students fell further behind with virtual learning. 

Kerns said in order for students to go into an academic year with a strong overall performance, growth within the school year will need to be consistent and even higher than current rates. 

The study analyzed 4.4 million early literacy or reading assessments at 19,046 schools and 2.9 million math assessments at 12,754 schools from all states and the District of Columbia.