Written By Joseph Deem Ed.D.
DECLINING ACHIEVEMENT TEST SCORES
Before the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years and before the negative impact of COVID’s remote learning debacle, national test scores were steadily increasing. Unfortunately, when students returned to school after the pandemic, test scores began to decline.
According to a 2025 study from the Research Center at the University of California Davis, the negative impacts from the pandemic’s remote learning experience are still affecting student achievement. As of 2024, test scores indicate that overall “students are half a year behind their 2019 predecessors.”
Unfortunately, even the pre-pandemic scores were not very good. For example, in 2019 49% of students were below standards in English and 60% were below standards in Math. Additional research indicates that five years from the start of the pandemic, the impacts can still be felt. Nationally, students failing to meet standards increased across the three-year span, and students meeting standards declined across the same time. Proficiency, as determined by test scores, not only dropped but reversed the multi-year upward trend.
ACHIEVEMENT RATES AT A LARGE SAMPLE OF SCHOOLS
Standards Plus reviewed test scores from a large sample of schools that included over two million students. Achievement test results for the large sample are displayed below, and they are consistent with the national results.
ACHIEVEMENT RATES AT STANDARDS PLUS SCHOOLS
Standards Plus compared this large control group to a subset of schools that used Standards Plus instructional materials.
Specifically, the subset schools implemented Standards Plus High Impact Language Arts or High Impact Math materials.
Based on testing results, 82% of the Standards Plus schools performed significantly better than the control group and/or increased the number of students who met standards in one or more grade levels.*
Improving student learning is the most effective and ethical way to improve test scores. Ensuring that students master their grade level content and consequently improve their achievement results has been the primary focus of the Standards Plus product development and implementation philosophy.
Standards Plus implementation strategies and instructional materials meet the needs of students who are at risk of falling behind. Standards Plus products are well suited to allow students to catch up while moving forward. Our developers applied their extensive knowledge and vast experience from working with students to create materials that implement effective learning research. Standards Plus experts embedded research-based strategies that include:
- Concise direct instruction lessons that teach important grade level standards
- Formative and summative assessments to monitor achievement
- Additional intervention lessons that scaffold learning of targeted shortcomings
Appropriate methods to improve achievement are proven and within reach. As displayed above, numerous schools have successfully implemented Standards Plus materials with positive results. Standard Plus provides a solution to the challenging impediments that often affect test scores. To learn more about Standards Plus materials, go to standardsplus.org.