Centennial State News

Tommy Schultz, CEO of the American Federation for Children, an organization advocating for the expansion of school choice, said the latest data released by the Nation's Report Card shows that students suffered significant learning loss during the pandemic.

The Nation's Report Card found that fewer Colorado fourth graders exhibit grade-level proficiency in math this year than in 2019, the last year in which testing was conducted. Approximately 36.4% of fourth graders across the state were able to perform at or above grade level in math, compared to 44.5% in 2019. Over 37% of the state's fourth graders exhibited grade-level proficiency in reading this year, compared to 39.7% in 2019.

“The student testing data released on the Nation’s Report Card shows we aren’t a nation at risk – we are a nation in free fall,” Schultz said.

Colorado eighth graders saw a more significant decline: 27.8% demonstrated grade-level proficiency in math this year, compared to 36.9% in 2019. In reading, 34.2% demonstrated grade-level proficiency in 2022, compared to 37.7% in 2019. 

Dr. Kym LeBlanc-Esparza, a deputy superintendent in Jefferson County Public Schools, told 9News that the Nation's Report Card results "confirmed what we had already seen. I’ve been doing this for 35 years and I’ve never seen this kind of impact on student learning. When you think about our current kindergarteners…they never went to pre-school. [They missed out on] learning to cooperate, learning to focus, learning to listen to someone else directing what to do with your time…just some of the background things we’d expect kids to have when they walk into the classroom… they didn’t." She said her district has implementing intense tutoring for students in small groups to try to help them catch up.

In the fall of the 2021-2022 school year, 46% of K-3 students in Denver were reading at grade level, a decrease from 56% in the fall of 2020, according to iStation literacy test scores, Chalkbeat reported. Only about one-third of black and Hispanic K-3 students in Denver were reading at grade level last fall. 

“This is something I believe we should be pretty concerned about,” said Jessica Martin, the Denver school district’s executive director of assessment, reporting and data. She noted that although teaching students to read can be challenging, “it’s even harder to catch up a student who is several years behind. And in this particular year, that percentage is now about a third of our students.” District officials pointed to pandemic restrictions and school closures as contributing factors for students' lower competency scores.