Roughly Half of Public School Students Began 2022-23 School Year Behind Grade Level in At Least One Academic Subject

Public school leaders estimated that about half—49 percent—of their students began the 2022-23 year behind grade level in at least one academic subject, according to data released today by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the statistical center within the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES). Almost all public schools with students behind grade level in at least one academic subject reported that at least some students were behind grade level in English or mathematics. Key Findings: As of December 2022, public schools have enacted a wide variety of strategies to support their students’ learning recovery. Most public schools have relied on diagnostic (88 percent) and formative (85 percent) assessment data to identify individual students’ academic needs. Eighty-one percent of public schools have utilized remedial instruction techniques (i.e., using content from prior years to teach concepts or skills), while over half (59 percent) have utilized tailored accelerated instruction (i.e., teacher-led individualized learning using new, grade-level content to teach prior-grade concepts or skills). Fifty-eight percent of public schools have provided professional development (PD) for their teachers and staff on learning recovery, and 37 percent have hired additional staff to provide more small-group and individual instruction. In addition to strategies mentioned above, most public schools provide some type of tutoring to their students (83 percent). Thirty-seven percent of public schools offer high-dosage tutoring (HDT), which is defined as tutoring that takes place for at least 30 minutes per session, one-on-one or in small group instruction, offered three or more times per week, is provided by educators or well-trained tutors, and aligns with an evidence-based core curriculum or program. It is also referred to as evidence-based or high-quality tutoring. Fifty-nine percent of public schools offer standard tutoring (SDT), which is defined as a less intensive method of tutoring that may take place in one-on-one, small group, or large group settings, is offered less than three times per week, and is provided by educators who may or may not have received specific training in tutoring practices.   The findings released today are from the School Pulse Panel, which is part of NCES’s innovative approach to delivering timely information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on public K–12 schools in the U.S. on topics such as learning recovery, tutoring offerings, learning mode offerings, and quarantine prevalence, as reported by school staff in U.S. public schools. This is the latest experimental data product from the School Pulse Panel. Data from this round were collected from 1,026 participating public schools between December 8 and December 22, 2022. Experimental data products are innovative statistical products created using new data sources or methodologies. Experimental data may not meet all NCES quality standards but are of sufficient benefit to data users in the absence of other relevant products to justify release. NCES clearly identifies experimental data products upon their release.  The data released today can be found on the School Pulse Panel dashboard at https://ies.ed.gov/schoolsurvey/.