Hawaii Strive HI data and test results were released last week. We now know that students are recovering from learning struggles made worse by the pandemic but they are no means where they should be in order to be ready for college and the workplace.
Today, the National Assessment of Education Progress was released. These are the only data that let us compare how students in fourth and eighth grade in Hawaii stack up against students in the other 49 states. The news is encouraging.
Our state has showed steady progress – especially in fourth grade reading – over the past fifteen years. In fact, the rate of growth shown by students in Hawaii from 1998 to 2015 was two to three times that of the national average.
Today’s results offer us reason for hope. Compared to national declines, Hawaii fourth graders outperform their peers in reading and math while eighth grade math tested at the national average for the first time. Eighth grade math remains an area of real challenge and reflects ten years of declining performance.
Learning recovery is everybody’s business. We must come together to support our students for full recovery and a quick path to a better future.
These indicators give only a partial sense of where we stand in our statewide effort to equip each and every Hawaii student with knowledge and skills to fully participate in the development of Hawaii. Some of what matters is not visible in these numbers. We don’t see problem solving skills, teamwork or communications capacity, for example. Nor is there sufficient focus on our high absenteeism and low rates of college going. We must all roll up our sleeves and join the Board and Department in laying out a path forward, to continue making smart investments in making teaching and learning excellent so that all of our students have opportunities for a prosperous future.