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Judge pauses deadline for federal workers to accept Trump's resignation offer; CA state lawmakers take action to enact safeguards against federal immigration enforcement; Study shows air quality disparities from industrial ag in NC.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi strikes a Trump tone at the Justice Department, federal workers get more time to consider buyouts, and an unclassified email request from the White House worries CIA vets.

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During Black History Month, a new book shares how a unique partnership built 5,000 schools for Black students, anti-hunger advocates say ag communities would benefit from an expanded SNAP program, and Americans have $90 billion in unpaid medical bills.

Nation's Report Card: Student test scores not budging in Arkansas

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Monday, February 3, 2025   

Arkansas kids are still feeling the negative educational impacts of the pandemic, even though it was declared over a year-and-a-half ago.

New data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress's 2024 Report Card show both fourth and eighth grade math and reading scores in the state have remained stagnant since 2019, and lower than the national average.

Most Arkansas eighth-grade test takers reported not receiving any math or reading tutoring. However, most also said they have access to social-emotional supports and rate their teachers positively.

Peggy Carr - a commissioner at the National Center for Education Statistics - added that chronic absenteeism rates, which doubled during the pandemic, are dropping.

"So, some improvement - but not enough," said Carr. "And this wouldn't be so worrisome if we had not found a consistent and strong correlation between absenteeism and student performance. You have to come to school to learn."

Nearly one-in-three Arkansas test takers said they had missed 3 or more days of school in a month.

Carr noted that some declines in academic achievement are part of a pre pandemic trend, with students below the 25th percentile still performing lower than their peers 30 years ago.

The gap between highest-achieving and lower-performing students continues to widen.

For example, scores at the 90th percentile in eighth grade math rose by 3% since 2022, while there was a 4% drop in fourth grade reading scores for students in the 10th percentile.

The National Assessment Governing Board's Vice Chair Martin West said the pandemic isn't the only factor driving the scores.

"We should be looking at what social media and the rise of the screen-based childhood is doing for reading habits and reading skills," said West. "We know from NEAP data there's been a sharp decline in the share of students who report reading frequently outside of school for fun."

West noted that there are upsides and downsides to screens, as technology can be a source of educational enrichment if used appropriately for learning.

The Nation's Report Card, mandated by Congress, is the largest nationally representative test of student learning.




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