The recently-announced results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (also known as NAEP or “The Nation’s Report Card”) showed the continuation of discouraging trends in 4th and 8th graders’ academic performance in reading and mathematics. Math results were generally stagnant and remain below 2019 levels, while literacy achievement fell by about two points at both grade levels.
NAEP is an invaluable tool for everyone working to improve educational outcomes in this country. So the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency’s recent $900 million in cuts to the Institute of Education Sciences, which houses NAEP, has raised alarm bells. Defunding or weakening the nation’s main educational measuring stick would be a major step backwards in our ability to access quality information about how students and schools are doing and to understand where action is needed.
For instance, the most recent NAEP results show us that the overall drops were largely driven by major declines in achievement by the lowest-performing students. The students who scored in the bottom 25% generally saw much bigger declines in their scores than their higher-scoring peers, meaning that achievement gaps are widening.
The results for 8th grade students are particularly alarming because these students are about to enter high school. Inadequate academic preparation can have lifelong impact on their ability to succeed not only in their high school years, but in college and, ultimately, in a career. The potential ripple effects are profound; a widespread failure to set students up for success could easily translate, in the long term, to an underprepared workforce and widespread ramifications for individuals and our economy. Reversing these academic declines is a must.
There are numerous complex factors contributing to our students’ ongoing academic struggles. The learning loss sustained during the pandemic had a profound and lasting impact on student achievement that will take years of recovery efforts. This year’s 4th-graders were the first to experience a full virtual school year, marking a major disruption to their foundational skill acquisition. Students at all grade levels in all states suffered, but poorer districts lost half a year of learning or more—widening existing gaps with wealthier districts.
At the same time, leaders also acknowledge that the declines in NAEP scores began before the disruptions of the pandemic. Low academic expectations and inconsistent access to grade-level work have hampered achievement for far too long. Schools are also facing ongoing issues with chronic absenteeism, low morale among teachers, and other huge challenges that ultimately impact students.
While all of these factors are critical, I can’t help but wonder about the possible impact of one other core issue as we chart a path forward: relevance. One of the most frequent complaints students have about school is that it’s boring. Could we raise students’ academic achievement—particularly 8th grade students—if we help them see relevance in what they’re learning? Could we spark greater excitement and engagement by tapping into their unique passions and skills earlier? And can we accomplish all of this by doubling down on career-relevant education and clear pathways?
I believe it’s worth a real shot and that there are several critical areas where education leaders should focus their energy.
First, we need to engage students much earlier in career exposure and exploration. Research shows that the middle school years are where disconnection sets in for many students; what better way to combat disengagement than by helping students make clear connections between the material they’re learning and how it can be applied in the real world? A growing number of states are recognizing the importance of building age-appropriate career exploration into the middle school experience, giving students the chance to hear from a range of professionals, try things for themselves, and learn about jobs to which they might never otherwise be exposed.
For many students, good career exploration opportunities will spark their excitement about a particular field they might want to pursue, giving them a sense of purpose and direction without locking them into a career choice. When they hone in on an area of interest, students should also receive clear information about what it takes to get there; this is where quality, personalized, career-oriented advising support comes in.
Effective advising is another practice that can dramatically improve students’ ability to feel engaged and see the relevance of their academic learning. Good advisors can help students see the whole picture: which classes they need to take, which internship or other work-based learning opportunities to consider, and which post-high school options they should plan for. As a result of strong advising, students will typically take more relevant classes in high school and beyond, and perhaps more importantly, they’ll know why they’re taking those courses and how they are building toward a bigger picture.
Advising can and often does come from traditional school counselors, but classroom teachers, outside student support organizations, and even older students also have roles to play. More states are taking the lead in developing a holistic approach that empowers a wide range of potential advisors to support students through their journeys. When trusted sources are rowing in the same direction, every student can receive the help they need as they navigate toward their goals.
Career-oriented education experiences also give students opportunities to apply what they’ve learned in classrooms to real work settings and scenarios, further demonstrating for them the why behind their learning. Work-based learning experiences—ranging from internships to apprenticeships to group projects on real challenges set by real employers—are gaining momentum and should, in some form, be a part of every student’s journey from education to career. We shouldn’t be making students wait until they leave formal educational settings to give them real workplace experiences and tangibly show them how the classes they take apply to real life. Education systems that make quality work-based learning a common expectation are building clear sightlines to relevance for their students.
Finally, in addition to better exploration, advising, and out-of-classroom experiences to help them see relevance, the content of courses needs to become more aligned with skills students need in the real world. This is an area ripe for innovation in many subjects. In math, for example, several leading states are thinking about how to build a wider variety of options for students in addition to the traditional calculus-oriented path. This doesn’t mean phasing out calculus, but extending options to include math domains with direct relevance to growing career fields, like statistics. Innovative organizations like Project Lead the Way have sought to infuse direct relevance into STEM curricula via approaches like “activity-, project-, and problem-based instructional design,” meaning students are immediately applying their classroom learning to real scenarios. If other subjects are able to adopt this approach, students will be able to see more direct connections between their academic experiences and skills they’ll need in the future.
When students are on a path that excites them and receive strong support that shows them how to work toward the future they choose, they can see a clearer throughline for themselves. Rather than discrete classes or experiences that feel random and, in the words of teenagers everywhere, “pointless,” the intentionality of career pathways experiences shows students that they’re really going somewhere. If disconnection is a contributing factor to the troubling academic trends we see among our students, then perhaps leaning into career-connected education and showing them clear relevance can help reverse the tide. If students can see a strong connection between their academic work and the possibilities for their futures, we might all ultimately be much better off.