WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Learning Heroes shared the following statement on student progress ahead of the Oct. 24 release of results from the Nation’s Report Card (NAEP):
“Despite all of the national and local news around learning loss, 92% of all parents – regardless of race or income or education level – still believe their children are at grade level. As long as 84% of parents are seeing their children bring home A’s and B’s, they are not going to sign their child up for tutoring or extra instructional time. To help advance academic recovery efforts, every parent can ask their teacher, 'Is my child on grade level in reading and math?' Parents act on what they know.” Bibb Hubbard, Founder & President, Learning Heroes
Learning Loss Data Continue to Pile Up. So Where are the Alarm Bells for Parents?
First it was the NAEP data on 9-year-olds’ progress that spotlighted a slide in learning outcomes. Then the dip in ACT results. Now we’re bracing for Monday’s NAEP release of post pandemic student performance, another reminder that America’s kids have fallen far behind.
Yet, parents, who arguably have the most at stake, remain on the sidelines when it comes to academic recovery efforts.
Learning Heroes national 2022 survey data reveal that 92% of parents believe their children are at grade level, despite reams of national and state data telling a very different story. As problem-solvers, fixers, and doers, parents more than anyone can help advance interventions addressing the pandemic’s impact on learning. But as long as the overwhelming majority of parents perceive their children are at grade level, recovery efforts won’t stand a chance.
Perhaps the biggest reason for this disconnect is that 84% of parents report their children get all B’s or above and rank report card grades as the top measure to know if their child is on grade level. Meanwhile only 30% of teachers rate report cards as one of the important ways to gauge student achievement.
This dynamic unfolds in many ways, but one example is high dosage tutoring. While this intervention has been put forward as an important tool for recovery, media continues to report tutoring seats going unfilled, and last May, only 12% of parents reported they would send their children to a summer school tutoring program, and only 16% reported they would send their children to a private tutor.
We can’t afford to wait for yet another reminder of how far our kids are behind to take action:
- For parents: ask your child’s teacher, “Is my child at grade level in reading and math? and, “How can we all work together to help my child make progress?”
- For school leaders: make sure parents know about the resources districts have made available - tutoring, online tools, extra academic support, etc.
- For state and district leaders: focus your federal ESSER funds on families and educators working together to get students on track for success.
For students to move forward at the speed and pace this urgent moment requires, parents can be a game changing part of the solution.
Let’s make that happen.
About Learning Heroes
Learning Heroes supports parents as their child’s most effective education advocate, catalyzing equitable learning environments for all students. Through partnerships with states, districts and organizations parents know and trust, we reach more than 20 million parents annually. For more information, visit www.bealearninghero.org.
