Claire Fiddian-Green: How the science of reading helps Hoosier students

Recently, K-12 learning loss has been a popular topic of conversation, with many blaming the COVID-19 pandemic for lagging academic achievement at both the state and national levels. 

Yet new research from the Education Scorecard — a report from a data collaborative launched by Harvard, Stanford, and Dartmouth researchers — paints a more complicated picture.

Evidence shows the U.S. has been in what they’re calling a “learning recession” for more than a decade.

According to the researchers — who track K-12 academic performance at the district level nationwide — the learning recession dates back to 2013, long before the onset of the pandemic.

In fact, their analysis shows that, for reading, average annual learning loss recorded in the U.S. in the three years prior to the pandemic was roughly equal to the loss that occurred during the pandemic years.

What might be the cause? The research team identifies two major factors. First, they contend that a departure from test-based accountability under the federal No Child Left Behind law played a significant role. Beginning in 2011, states and schools were no longer required to focus as intensively on improving reading and math scores, contributing to declines.

Second, the researchers point to the rapid rise in social media use among children. 2013 aligns closely with significant growth in teen social media use, which not only impacts student mental health but may also contribute to distractions during instructional time. 

Though the researchers acknowledge a lack of causal evidence between these two factors and student performance, they emphasize that declines in student learning outcomes began at about the same time.

While it is important to identify the root causes of learning loss, it is also critical to identify tools to combat it.

The Education Scorecard highlights what is called “the science of reading” as one promising solution. This refers to a body of research that explains how individuals learn to read and best practices for reading instruction, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

Fortunately, Indiana is fully committed to the science of reading. In 2023, Indiana lawmakers adopted science of reading reforms, which were expanded upon in 2024. While the average student is reading about .31 grade level equivalents below 2019 levels, Indiana ranks sixth among 35 states for reading gains between 2022 and 2025.

Indiana’s recovery in math remains a work in progress. In the Education Scorecard, Indiana ranks 29th out of 38 states in math growth between 2022 and 2025 — an encouraging improvement over its 35th-place ranking the previous year. The average student is performing about .5 grade level equivalents below 2019 levels. 

This is not an insurmountable challenge. Just like education experts identified the science of reading as an effective, evidence-based strategy to improve Hoosier literacy rates, so too must they identify and implement the best methods to improve math performance.

It’s important to emphasize that all of this work must be supported by valid, reliable data about how Hoosier students are performing. We cannot effectively improve K–12 academic outcomes without the regular collection, analysis and transparent reporting of outcomes data to guide our work.

By continuing to lean into evidence-based methods and using data to drive our decision-making, Indiana can put the learning recession behind us.•

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Fiddian-Green is president and CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, whose mission is to advance the vitality of Indianapolis and the well-being of its people. Send comments to [email protected].

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