The Hawai‘i Department of Education has released its 2022-2023 Strive HI results, a range of measurements demonstrating how students performed in public and charter schools statewide.
The annual report found that students have slightly improved in math, but their reading and science proficiency remained the same.
However, educators are trying to close the learning gaps for students impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, top officials told the Board of Education on Thursday.
Superintendent Keith Hayashi said student performance hasn’t reached what it was, even though the results show some improvements in the current academic year compared to in 2021-2022.
“We still have much more work to do in supporting our students,” he said.
According to the report, students improved in math by 2% from last school year. But reading still stands at 52% and science at 48% proficiency, with no change.
The DOE had set a goal in its strategic plan for all students to be proficient in reading by the end of third grade and adept at math by the end of eighth grade.
Deputy Superintendent Tammi Oyadomari-Chun updated the BOE on how Hawaiʻi students are doing compared with other states. The National Assessment of Educational Progress is given in every state by the U.S. Department of Education and reports show that most states have seen a decline in scores.
However, Oyadomari-Chun said that Hawaiʻi was one of the few states with any gains in the last five years.
The report also looks at students with high needs including English learners, economically disadvantaged and special education students.
According to the report, 29% of English learners are on track to English language proficiency.
David Miyashiro, founding executive director of the local organization HawaiiKidsCAN, said that the DOE should prioritize summer learning, helping ninth graders catch up in school and demand evaluation of academic recovery interventions.
“We also urge for a deeper examination of the Strive HI data from an equity perspective,” he wrote in testimony about how the data doesn’t provide a look at student subgroups.
“For example, while fourth-grade NAEP reading results are listed as a strength for Hawaiʻi, only 18% of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students were rated proficient in 2022. We should celebrate success while noting that many students still need intensive, targeted support."
The results also showed improvements in chronic absenteeism, or students absent from school, for 15 days or more. According to the report, student absences were down 7% in the 2021-2022 school year.
Cheri Nakamura of He‘e Coalition said the Strive HI results show that academic performances are moving in the right direction.
“That’s a testament to the hardworking educators and our DOE overcoming this obstacle of the pandemic,” she said. “There were a lot of negative impacts from the pandemic, and we seem to be working through them and going in the right direction.”
