PATRICK WALL, CHALKBEAT NEWARK | AUGUST 6, 2021 | NJ SPOTLIGHT NEWS
Only 11% of students met expectations in reading
Newark students suffered extensive learning loss last school year, according to spring 2021 test scores that show for the first time how profoundly the pandemic disrupted students’ academic progress.
Just 9% of students in grades 2-8 met state expectations in math based on the results of end-of-year tests taken this spring, according to Newark Public Schools data Chalkbeat obtained through a public records request. Only 11% of students met expectations in reading.
The grim results are only estimates of how students would have fared on New Jersey’s state exams had they not been canceled this spring. Also, the tests measure student performance against pre-pandemic benchmarks, which do not account for the extreme challenges Newark students faced after COVID-19 shuttered school buildings and shattered any sense of normalcy for more than a year.
Still, the standardized tests that thousands of Newark students took this spring offer the most detailed look yet at the academic damage wrought by the pandemic. While alarming, the test scores parallel national and statewide data that show the past year’s social and educational disruptions knocked most students off course, with Black, Hispanic, and low-income students weathering the biggest blow.
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