For cohorts born since 1990, reading progress increased while math progress slowed¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2022 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2027: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Rates of progress for cohorts born since 1990 increased in reading but slowed in math, consistent with intelligence studies finding a slowdown in IQ growth in industrialized societies. → M. Danish Shakeel · Paul E. Peterson 2022

Evidence¶

M. Danish Shakeel · Paul E. Peterson 2022¶

M. Danish Shakeel · Paul E. Peterson. (2022). A Half Century of Progress in US Student Achievement: Agency and Flynn Effects, Ethnic and SES Differences. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09657-y

q3 · i? · associational · r3

The abstract and introduction report period-specific trends, noting "a flattening in the upward math trend for the most recent period"; the article gives special attention to the recent period because intelligence studies find slowed IQ growth.

"Consistent with Flynn effects, median trends show larger gains in m (0.19sd) than in rd (0.04sd), though rates of progress for cohorts born since 1990 have increased in rd but slowed in m."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• CPS elementary school productivity improvements stalled after 1997, with no evidence of significant productivity growth since then — related
• CPS elementary ITBS scores improved across the 1990s in both reading and math for all age groups, but trend gains flattened after 1998 — related
• All six CPS age cohorts saw a slight 2001 decline in math scores of less than one month, which a Rasch-score re-analysis suggests reflects an actual drop in learning rather than test-form effects — related
• Statewide California mathematics achievement on the CAASPP was mostly stagnant from 2015 to 2018 and lagged behind English language arts gains — related
• Estimates of cohort achievement trends vary substantially by survey agent, with PISA reporting negative math trends — related
• US cohort achievement trends per decade are steeper in math (median 0.19sd) than in reading (median 0.04sd) across linked surveys — related
• Judging school improvement requires reading learning gain trends and output trends simultaneously, since either trend monitored alone can mislead — related
• Fourth-grade cohorts in other countries also show larger math than reading gains, suggesting moderators more general than the United States — reports the opposite