PHOENIX — Citing newly released test scores, Gov. Doug Ducey is setting aside $100 million in federal funds to conduct a second year of ‘summer camp’ to help youngsters catch up on what they missed in due to COVID.
Tuesday’s announcement, just months into the school year, comes on the heels of the release of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress which found there was “no significant change’’ in the reading skills of Arizona students.
And the state Department of Education said math scores of Arizona eighth graders reached their lowest level since 2003.
“In light of this barometer of our kids’ success, there’s no time to waste to catch our kids up,’ the governor said in a prepared statement. “We must continue to pour on the gas in our efforts.’
The program is being modeled after the OnTrack Summer Camp operated at 685 schools, community facilities and other sites earlier this year. The governor’s office said more than 70,000 youngsters participated in programs designed to help them catch up on read, math and American civics.
And while the programs were designed to let students have fun, Ducey’s office said 86% of the students either made progress toward, met or exceeded the learning goals set for them at camp. It also resulted in recovery of more than 5,300 academic credits, a move the governor’s office said ensures that more students will be on track for graduation.
Ducey said there are “some silver linings’ to those NAEP scores for Arizona, noting that students here closely followed the national decline in math. And he said the state held its ground in reading scores with little to no change since 2019.
“It’s encouraging that reading scores remained level,’ the governor said. “Kids have to learn to read before they an read to learn,’ he continued. “With critical investments like AZ OnTrack summer camp, we intervened and helped kids reignite their love of learning that was disrupted by the pandemic.’
There were no immediate details on when and how parents can sign up for the summer programs.
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