Boys, Test Scores, and Schools

As a long-time educator and the mom of three sons and two grandsons, my view of our school system is impacted by my experiences, and I have changed many of my opinions about education as a result. Recently, there was a Civil Beat article about how our boys do not perform as well as girls on statewide testing. In fact, according to a Brookings Institute study, Hawai`i has one of the highest gender gaps in the country. Is this a problem we should be examining and addressing? 

Our students’ lives were disrupted by the sudden closure of school. Many lives changed drastically as schools were forced to go to remote learning, households were suddenly thrown into turmoil, and many people lost jobs, got sick or died due to COVID. What was the long-term impact of COVID on schools? 

Today, I watched and read news about the NAEP test results for the last school year. You would think the scores were horrific judging by news reports. I heard interviews that shared the “crisis” with the falling test scores, particularly in math. Interviews with education “experts” talk about learning loss and the solutions mentioned are summer school, tutoring, or longer school days using federal funds. But as Ted Dintersmith points out in these tweets, the numbers aren’t as drastic as others make them out to be. I did the math, and Ted is right; the drop is less than 3% after more than two years of disruption in our school system.

When parents, politicians, and the public hear that falling test scores is a crisis, they believe they need to insert their power to change our schools. This is a problem. We need to trust our educational staff to do what they’ve always done and that is to be aware of the strengths and needs of their students and to address the challenges they face at school, at home, and in the community. Schools recognize the need to address the heart before they can make a connection with the mind. Educators have been focusing on social-emotional learning, mental health and wellness, and building relationships and trust since students returned to in-person learning last school year. Making sure that students felt safe and building a community of learners in their classroom was essential to ensuring that students could “catch up” on what they had lost academically.

The pandemic exposed the problems of absenteeism and disengagement for many students especially our boys. This is not a new problem. I have spoken to a number of successful men who readily share that they were not good students because they didn’t see the purpose of what they were learning. I think of a young man who said he was able to ace the high-stakes tests but he received only average grades because he often didn’t do his work. Another young man shared that he got a 4.0 grade point average during his first semester of high school just to see if he could do it. He graduated with honors but only put in the effort for classes or for teachers he liked. Other males shared that they were more likely to be at the beach during school hours. The word I hear most often from many students is “boring.” This article from 2019 predates the pandemic, but it is insightful: “The Kids are Right: School is Boring”

Schools need to change. I was very hopeful when I wrote this blog “Time to Examine Our Beliefs about Education” back in December 2020. I thought that the pandemic demonstrated the need to shake up teaching and learning  to address the new world we live in. I held out hope that the public and school systems would ask students, teachers, and parents what worked during the pandemic and what didn’t and then make changes which made sense. I was hopeful that more schools would implement strategies such as  project-based learning deeper learning, problem-based math, blended learning, and community internships so that students could see the relevance of what they were learning in class and the world outside the classroom. I was hopeful that schools would look for other ways to gauge student learning besides high-stakes testing like NAEP or Smarter Balanced Assessments. Some schools and school districts are making those changes; we need to trust them to do what’s best for kids and get out of their way. 

Education in our country is in a crisis, not because of “appalling” NAEP scores, but because we are stuck in the 20th century where we believe that test scores and report card grades define a student’s potential for success. Rather, we should be focusing on developing well-rounded, empathetic students who are able to use the skills they are learning in school to collaborate with others to address problems that will impact them now and in the future. We need to be partners with our schools as they prepare our students to be successful in the 21st century.