Our nation's academic achievement scores (NAEP)were released this past Thursday, and the results were not good. The scores are the first real empirical evidence of the impact of the pandemic.
The tests were administered nationwide during the first quarter of 2020 and 2022 and showed reading scores plunging to their lowest levels since 1990 — and math scores dropping for the first time in history, dating back to the 1970s.
Daniel McGrath from the United States Department of Education stated, "Students in 2022 are performing at a level last seen two decades ago. These are some of the largest declines we have observed in a single assessment cycle in 50 years."
The greatest decline in learning outcomes among lower achieving students was even more concerning. Higher performing students — those in the 90th percentile — only showed a three percentage point drop in math scores, compared with under-performing students — those in the 10th percentile — experiencing a 12-point drop. Math scores for Black students fell 13 points, compared to a 5-point decrease among white students.
Plummeting test scores and a widening socio-economic and ethnic achievement gap? Like I said, not good.
I am sure that somewhere in the land of music education, there is someone who teaches like me or speaks like me. Someone who infuses leadership lessons into their classrooms, and enjoys a bit of levity. I know others faced similar struggles and achieved similar results.
As I said, music and academia are in lockstep in some ways, but in others, we differ significantly.
The similarities between music and the rest of academia are striking. The achievement/skill mastery has declined significantly, with students in underserved or remote areas more significantly than those in high-performing suburban regions. Not just in achievement, but in enrollment as well.
We see students for multiple years, which means we experience the impact for multiple years. Furthering the pain, in music, we often utilize peer-to-peer modeling to help teach and guide other students. In that sense, we are not only experiencing learning loss, but leader loss as well.
Last year, you likely had many students who struggled due to lost instructional time. The younger ones may have only played in person for six months before the pandemic hit and struggled to regain their lost skills. Fortunately, you likely had older students who had played for many years before the pandemic and returned to form in no time.
Now it's a new year, and it should get better, right? Not necessarily, as you now likely have TWO highly impacted classes and only ONE class to model and help move the group forward—double the number of affected students, half the number of leaders to help.
Next year could be even tougher for high school teachers, as your program will likely contain 100% impacted students!
Why do I share this? So that if you are feeling the added weight and drag, know that it isn't you, and you're not alone.
Maybe this is not your experience. Perhaps you and your program are humming along at top speed with no added drag.
But, I can imagine myself back in a classroom, frustrated and confused, feeling like I am stuck in neutral while everyone else is moving forward. I know I would benefit from someone reminding me to invest in the fundamentals (musical and leadership) and focus on growth, not achievement. I would need to structure this in a way that would require me to invest real rehearsal time to ensure future success (timed warm-up, leadership lesson Monday, etc.). And I would want an occasional reminder that the rating, score, or grade level of music does not necessarily reflect the quality of the instruction.
I would need this because I know me! I would run before I walked, push too hard, and leap before looking. I would pick too much music that is too difficult. Thinking it would solve the problem, I would spend too much time on the music and not enough on fundamentals and be frustrated with myself after every failed rehearsal.
You wouldn't make those mistakes. You wouldn't be that hard on yourself. You would understand that student success is all that matters, no matter where and how it is achieved. You would be able to disassociate your measure of self-worth from a score or trophy. You would clearly understand that more (drill/music/concerts/etc.) is not better; getting better is better. And, as long as your groups improve, you are killing it. Finally, you would understand that while these are among the most challenging years of your career, they are also among the best, because you are having a REAL impact, and are making a REAL difference.
Of course, you would know all that and more because you aren't like me.
I just thought I would share in case you are.
Have a great Wednesday, Patrons.
Scott