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The challenges of the coronavirus pandemic were seen in the latest results of Hawaii’s public school test scores as proficiency in language arts, math and science all suffered during the 2020-21 school year, according to state education officials.
The results are part of the just-released public school accountability system known as Strive HI, which measures student proficiency, growth, college and career readiness and more.
Math took the biggest test-score hit with a proficiency decline of 11 percentage points, falling from 43% in 2019 to 32% in 2021, while science scores decreased 9 percentage points from 44% in 2019 to 35% in 2021.
Language arts proficiency was down 4 percentage points, dropping from 54% in 2019 to 50% in 2021.
“The results are troubling but somewhat expected given the trouble over the last few years,” said David Miyashiro, executive director of HawaiiKidsCAN, an education advocacy nonprofit.
State Board of Education member Kili Namau‘u called the results “dismal.”