Latest news with #TNTP
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Opinion: In Algebra 1, New Understanding of an Old Problem Can Support Students
Schools are often described as engines of opportunity — places where students gain the skills and knowledge needed to build their futures. But for too many young people, that engine stalls before it even starts. One critical inflection point is the completion of Algebra I. It can determine whether students move forward or fall behind, shaping not just their academic trajectory but also their future economic mobility. For students who pass Algebra I — typically in 9th grade — a door opens to higher-level math, college readiness, and stronger career prospects. For those who don't, that door can remain closed. In fact, students who fail Algebra I are four times more likely to drop out of high school than their peers who pass. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter According to the 2024 NAEP scores, only 28% of students were proficient in 8th grade math. That sobering number underscores the challenge: Students are entering Algebra I already behind, grappling with unfinished learning from prior grades. Without effective intervention, the gap only grows wider. To better understand how to support students in mastering Algebra I, TNTP and New Classrooms analyzed three years of data from more than 2,000 students who used Teach to One Roadmaps, an online learning platform developed by New Classrooms, alongside their regular Algebra I classroom. The findings, detailed in the report, Unlocking Algebra: What the Data Tells Us About Helping Students Catch Up, offer important insights into how students build algebraic understanding over time and which strategies are most effective in helping them succeed. The study found that students make the most progress when rebuilding foundational knowledge is paired with opportunities to learn new content. That requires focusing on high-leverage, pre-requisite skills rather than trying to fill every gap. Intervention supports like tutoring must be tightly aligned to what students already know and what they are ready to learn next. And instructional coherence is essential. Students need consistent, connected learning experiences — from core instruction to other interventions — to truly accelerate. Related The majority of students in the study began knowing only about one-third of the algebra-related concepts and skills from prior grades. But the data also showed that students can catch up — especially when instruction helps them both rebuild key foundations and continue learning new, grade-level material. They don't need to stop moving forward while trying to recover everything they've missed. The research found that instruction was significantly more effective when it targeted the key predecessor skills that unlock access to new Algebra I content, rather than attempting to remediate everything. For example, when students are trying to learn 'the average rate of change,' the key predecessor skills with the greatest likelihood of ensuring success are the ability to calculate the slope between two points, to construct functions to model a linear relationship, and to determine function rules from tables. When key skills like these are not already mastered, students were found to succeed in only one out of 10 attempts. But when they are explicitly addressed, students' success rate jumped to 58%. The takeaway: Students don't need to catch up on all unfinished learning to move forward. Precision matters more than breadth. Instead of broad, generalized approaches, educators can accelerate learning by focusing on the skills that matter most for unlocking new content and that build on each student's existing knowledge. Over the course of a school year, aligning interventions with core instruction also made a measurable difference. This targeted strategy helped students learn nearly twice as many new algebra concepts by year end. That progress mattered: Students who had mastered twice as many concepts were significantly more likely to score proficient on their state's Algebra I assessment. These insights point to a larger truth: System-level instructional coherence is essential. Students thrive when their learning experiences—from core instruction to tutoring to other supports—are aligned, purposeful, and grounded in a shared understanding of what success looks like. In Algebra I, for example, instructional coherence ensures that the foundational skills students practice in tutoring or support programs directly connect to what's being taught in class, so every learning opportunity builds toward mastering key algebra concepts rather than feeling disconnected or repetitive. If schools are to serve as true engines of opportunity, all parts of the system—curriculum, instruction, and intervention—must work together. That's especially true when it comes to Algebra I, the gateway course that often determines who accelerates and who stalls out. Coherence isn't just about what happens in the math classroom; it requires alignment across grade levels, teacher teams, and entire systems. Related When selecting intervention solutions, district leaders should ask key questions: How does the platform determine what each student is ready to learn? Does it tailor practice to individual needs? The most effective tools meet students where they are and guide them towards mastery, with a clear focus on skills that unlock Algebra I. At the state level, much of the recent focus has rightly been on ensuring rigorous classroom curricula. But few states offer clear guidance on what high-quality intervention should look like. This is a missed opportunity. State leaders can leverage existing curriculum review processes to advocate for coherent intervention tools: ones that are aligned to classroom instruction, address unfinished learning, and build towards grade-level content. Algebra I is more than just a math class. It's a defining moment in a student's academic life and a powerful measure of whether the school system is delivering on its promise of opportunity. Right now, too many students are stalling before they ever get a chance to accelerate. But we now have a clearer roadmap for helping them catch up—and keep up. The tools are here. The knowledge is here. The opportunity is waiting. Let's make sure the engine starts.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Post-pandemic nose-dive: Why student test scores are raising alarms among parents and teachers
Five years ago, teachers shut their classroom doors and scrambled to set up video conference for their students,Now, new national test scores show America's kids – especially the nation's lowest achieving students – have yet to return to pre-pandemic academic levels. Teachers, parents and education leaders are raising alarms about the state of education after seeing the sobering results of the U.S. Department of Education's latest Nation's Report Card results Wednesday. The data shows a post-pandemic nose-dive in literacy scores and a widening achievement gap between the nation's highest and lowest learners in math and reading skills. Many of them are calling on national leaders and school officials to speed up learning recovery. Strengthening American education, they say, is urgent. "We need to figure out what we got wrong and what we need to adjust," said Tequilla Brownie, CEO of TNTP, a nonprofit organization working to redesign education to help students of color and those living in poverty. New test scores reveal: Kids' reading, math skills are worsening. What's going on? Fourth and eighth graders tested at lower reading levels on the National Assessment for Educational Progress in 2024 than before COVID-19. The achievement gap also widened between the nation's highest and lowest performing learners in literacy test scores. The pandemic exacerbated a reading crisis that began before schools shifted to remote learning, said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. Kids now don't have the joy for reading they once did and teachers have changed the way they teach writing in the digital age, she said. Adeola Whitney, CEO of a national nonprofit which works to improve equitable access to literacy education called Reading Partners, said it's "alarming" that more students are scoring at low reading levels. "Reading is a civil right that should be afforded to every student in the US. Our children deserve nothing less," Whitney wrote in an email. Brownie, from TNTP, said she's especially concerned about low-scoring kids who live in poverty - and are at risk of staying in poverty because they aren't skilled in reading. "Kids that are behind don't have to remain behind, but we have to focus on identifying solutions for kids that need those solutions and implement them," Brownie said. The Biden administration granted schools $189.5 billion through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) under the American Rescue Plan Act. The funding – given to school leaders to use to accelerate student learning recovery expired in September, yet kids' haven't caught up as planned. Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, called the new test results a "national disgrace." "Despite an unprecedented $190 billion in federal investment meant to accelerate learning recovery, too many states have nothing to show for it except worsening outcomes," Rodrigues wrote in an email Wednesday. "It's time to stop pretending that 'business as usual' is acceptable—because these results are a disaster." Rodrigues called on Congress to investigate how schools spent the COVID-relief money and on the Trump administration to develop a "national strategy to ensure states are delivering on their responsibility to provide every child with a high-quality education," which she said could include state-mandated high-dosage tutoring, extended learning time and high quality learning materials. Lindsay Dworkin, senior vice president of policy and government affairs at the education assessment company NWEA, echoed Rodrigues's call for urgency given the recent expiration of the temporary funding. "With the federal emergency funds now used up, it's more important than ever that policy and education leaders focus ever-scarcer resources on evidence-based strategies like combatting chronic absenteeism, scaling high-dosage tutoring, and expanding instructional time through extended school days and summer programming," Dworkin wrote in an email. Student chronic absenteeism rates grew from 15% to 26% between 2018 to 2023 due to pandemic-related setbacks, according to an analysis from the American Enterprise Institute. Chronic absenteeism refers to when a student misses 10% or more of the school year. The new federal data released Wednesday shows that student absenteeism remains a problem for America's schools, and low-performing students are more likely to miss school than other kids. Five reasons kids are missing school: Chronic absenteeism is schools' 'biggest problem.' "Absenteeism, which rose over the pandemic period, has declined since the 2022 assessment, but not to pre-pandemic levels," reads a news release from the National Center for Education Statistics. "We should care because if students aren't in school, then they can't learn," Carr said. Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@ Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nation's Report Card: Why low student test scores raise alarms
USA Today
30-01-2025
- General
- USA Today
Post-pandemic nose-dive: Why student test scores are raising alarms among parents and teachers
Post-pandemic nose-dive: Why student test scores are raising alarms among parents and teachers Show Caption Hide Caption What is school avoidance? Student anxiety spikes post COVID School avoidance has been on the rise for years, but experts say more students are struggling to get back to class since the COVID-19 pandemic. Josh Morgan, USA TODAY Five years ago, teachers shut their classroom doors and scrambled to set up video conference for their students,Now, new national test scores show America's kids – especially the nation's lowest achieving students – have yet to return to pre-pandemic academic levels. Teachers, parents and education leaders are raising alarms about the state of education after seeing the sobering results of the U.S. Department of Education's latest Nation's Report Card results Wednesday. The data shows a post-pandemic nose-dive in literacy scores and a widening achievement gap between the nation's highest and lowest learners in math and reading skills. Many of them are calling on national leaders and school officials to speed up learning recovery. Strengthening American education, they say, is urgent. "We need to figure out what we got wrong and what we need to adjust," said Tequilla Brownie, CEO of TNTP, a nonprofit organization working to redesign education to help students of color and those living in poverty. New test scores reveal: Kids' reading, math skills are worsening. What's going on? The U.S. has a literacy crisis Fourth and eighth graders tested at lower reading levels on the National Assessment for Educational Progress in 2024 than before COVID-19. The achievement gap also widened between the nation's highest and lowest performing learners in literacy test scores. The pandemic exacerbated a reading crisis that began before schools shifted to remote learning, said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. Kids now don't have the joy for reading they once did and teachers have changed the way they teach writing in the digital age, she said. Adeola Whitney, CEO of a national nonprofit which works to improve equitable access to literacy education called Reading Partners, said it's "alarming" that more students are scoring at low reading levels. 'Reading is a civil right' "Reading is a civil right that should be afforded to every student in the US. Our children deserve nothing less," Whitney wrote in an email. Brownie, from TNTP, said she's especially concerned about low-scoring kids who live in poverty - and are at risk of staying in poverty because they aren't skilled in reading. "Kids that are behind don't have to remain behind, but we have to focus on identifying solutions for kids that need those solutions and implement them," Brownie said. Temporary COVID-relief funding for education is gone The Biden administration granted schools $189.5 billion through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) under the American Rescue Plan Act. The funding – given to school leaders to use to accelerate student learning recovery expired in September, yet kids' haven't caught up as planned. Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, called the new test results a "national disgrace." "Despite an unprecedented $190 billion in federal investment meant to accelerate learning recovery, too many states have nothing to show for it except worsening outcomes," Rodrigues wrote in an email Wednesday. "It's time to stop pretending that 'business as usual' is acceptable—because these results are a disaster." Rodrigues called on Congress to investigate how schools spent the COVID-relief money and on the Trump administration to develop a "national strategy to ensure states are delivering on their responsibility to provide every child with a high-quality education," which she said could include state-mandated high-dosage tutoring, extended learning time and high quality learning materials. Lindsay Dworkin, senior vice president of policy and government affairs at the education assessment company NWEA, echoed Rodrigues's call for urgency given the recent expiration of the temporary funding. "With the federal emergency funds now used up, it's more important than ever that policy and education leaders focus ever-scarcer resources on evidence-based strategies like combatting chronic absenteeism, scaling high-dosage tutoring, and expanding instructional time through extended school days and summer programming," Dworkin wrote in an email. 'If students aren't in school, they can't learn' Student chronic absenteeism rates grew from 15% to 26% between 2018 to 2023 due to pandemic-related setbacks, according to an analysis from the American Enterprise Institute. Chronic absenteeism refers to when a student misses 10% or more of the school year. The new federal data released Wednesday shows that student absenteeism remains a problem for America's schools, and low-performing students are more likely to miss school than other kids. Five reasons kids are missing school: Chronic absenteeism is schools' 'biggest problem.' "Absenteeism, which rose over the pandemic period, has declined since the 2022 assessment, but not to pre-pandemic levels," reads a news release from the National Center for Education Statistics. "We should care because if students aren't in school, then they can't learn," Carr said. Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@ Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.
