Students across the district are still suffering from the pandemic learning loss.
Here in Michigan, children in the early grades are most affected by important subjects like reading.
According to the Michigan Department of Education, more than half of third grade students fail the state's annual literacy test. A McKinsey & Company report found that students are on average four months behind in reading.
This is important evidence for consideration in light of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's recent budget proposal, which includes a heavy focus on increased spending in education to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In 2021, 52% of third graders were actually classified as having a reading deficit in first, second or third grade," said Katherine Strunk, director and professor at Michigan State University's EPIC.
These are the students in our neighborhood who are struggling with literacy far below grade level, and Strunk says the pandemic has caused disruption.
“We think about 2 hours less of literacy instruction per week, which is about 80 hours less in a year, and it was even lower in districts that were fully remote in the 2021 school year,” Strunk said. .
With less time allocated to teachers for literacy skills, distance students have had fewer opportunities to learn to read during the last school year...
"It's always been the case in Michigan that African American and Latino students are scoring well below white students and Asian students score slightly above white students," Strunk says.
Sarah Rich, CEO of Just Write Reader, says children with weak reading and writing skills will struggle to get ahead.
"We don't want kids to do this because they're low on confidence, they know they're moving, and they never move on," Rich said.
Making matters worse, Michigan's educational progress test, the M-STEP, was canceled in spring 2020 due to COVID-19, and when testing resumed in spring 2021, 5% of students tested Flagged for retention.
“The shocking part of all this is that students of color and low-income students were more likely to be flagged for retention, and also more likely to be retained in the end,” Strunk said.
As far as solutions go, Rich believes that going forward, it's important to personalize a child's learning journey.
Rich said, "We believe in giving kids decodables because decodables detect your phonics gap, and it hits where it's needed, and kids move really fast when they're on their phonics." find the gap."
Parents can also play their part by doing more literacy-based activities with their children, such as simple things like reading a book or making a shopping list with them.
Rich said, "If they're sounding out words, say the first word on that grocery list. If they're putting words together, write them down."
Rich says the best way to help your child is to connect with them. Ask them about their favorite topic or even let them point out words they don't understand or need help pronouncing. All the proactive steps will go a long way in building a solid foundation for your child.