Data Shows A Dramatic Difference In Test Scores Between Hawaii Schools

Since the start of the pandemic, Principal Mahina Anguay has seen behavior she rarely needed to worry about in her 12 years at Waimea High School.

Students are more easily distracted and less engaged in class than they were several years ago, Anguay said. She’s seen more incidents of vandalism and vaping on campus, and students who would usually pass high school with flying colors are struggling to get by.

“It’s affected all kids,” Anguay said, adding that the school has responded by placing a greater emphasis on hands-on learning and using smaller class sizes to connect with more students. Despite these efforts, only 12% of the high school’s students tested proficient in math last year, down from 23% in 2019.

Although Hawaii did not experience as large a drop in student achievement during the pandemic as many mainland states, efforts to improve test scores over the last three years have seen little success, with statewide scores essentially flatlining.

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David Sun-Miyashiro, executive director of HawaiiKidsCAN, also wants the education department to publish more data on how popular programs like summer learning or tutoring shaped student learning over the past few years. Otherwise, he said, it’s still unclear why some schools excelled and why others are still struggling four years after the start of the pandemic.

“It’ll end up being a lot of guesswork,” Sun-Miyashiro said.

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