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Eighth Grade Math Profiency

Eighth grade math proficiency slightly improved despite THe COVID-19 pandemic

While research suggests that student learning in math was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic nationally,3,4 eighth grade math proficiency among Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) students slightly increased since 2018, when the last Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) was administered.2

  • Since the NSCAS was first administered in 2016, a higher proportion of LPS eighth graders are math proficient compared to Nebraska public school eighth graders statewide.
  • In the 2020-21 school year, eighth grade math proficiency among LPS students was 52%, compared to 45% of Nebraska public school students statewide.
  • Eighth grade math proficiency among LPS students increased from 50% in the 2018-19 school year to 52% in the 2020-21 school year.
Footnotes

3.  Lewis, K., Kuhfeld, M., Ruzek, E., & McEachin, A. (2021). Learning during COVID-19: Reading and math achievement in the 2020-21 school year. Center for School and Student Progress. https://www.nwea.org/content/uploads/2021/07/Learning-during-COVID-19-Reading-and-math-achievement-in-the-2020-2021-school-year.research-brief-1.pdf

4.  Kuhfeld, M., Soland, J., Tarasawa, B., Johnson, A., Ruzek, E., & Liu, J. (2020). Projecting the potential impact of COVID-19 school closures on academic achievement. Educational Researcher. 49(8), 549-565. DOI: 10.3102/0013189X20965918. Changes in enrollment and differences in NSCAS participation rates complicates direct comparisons to previous assessment data.

2.  The Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) is the statewide assessment system for English language arts (ELA), mathematics, and science that public schools have administered since the 2016-17 school year. It is not comparable to the older NeSA (Nebraska State Accountability) assessment. The ELA and mathematics NSCAS test administered in Spring 2021 was shortened to preserve instructional time due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Non-participants were also not representative of the whole population. These factors, in addition to changes in enrollment and differences in NSCAS participation rates, complicates direct comparisons to previous NSCAS data.