A fifth-Grade teacher might have faced students working at up to seven grade levels, back in 2016, say researchers analyzing NWEA’s MAP (formerly Measures of Academic Progress) data. When schools reopen, gaps will be even wider, reports Beth Hawkins on The 74.

Of 375,000 fifth-graders in the pre-pandemic era, one-third scored at or below third grade in math, one-third at fourth grade, one-fourth at fifth and 10 percent above grade level, Karen Rambo-Hernandez, a Texas A&M assistant professor tells Hawkins. “In reading, at the beginning of fifth grade, just 14 percent of students performed at grade level. One-third were reading beyond grade level and half below.”

“All of this is in a typical year,” notes Rambo-Hernandez. “Next year is not going to look like a typical year.”

In April, NWEA’s Collaborative for Student Growth Research Center released research suggesting that on average, students next fall are likely to retain about 70 percent of this year’s gains in reading and less than 50 percent in math.

The gap could widen by two or more grades, Rambo-Hernandez estimates.

Teachers are supposed to “differentiate” instruction to reach students at widely different levels in the same classroom. Some believe teachers should teach to different “learning styles” as well. Throw in kids with varying levels of fluency in English, and add something with various learning disabilities. I think it’s the main reason teachers burn out.

“Differentiation when you’re in the classroom physically is one thing,” says Julia Kaufman, a senior policy researcher at RAND. “I don’t know how you do it looking at faces on Zoom.”

To keep non-virtual students apart physically, schools are planning to divide classes into smaller groups. Why not divide by achievement levels — call it “learning needs” —  instead of mixing the third-grade reader with the fifth-grade reader with the eighth-grade reader? (I tested at the 12th-grade level in reading in fifth grade. I was happy to be left alone to read in class.)