Thinker's Chronicle

For as long as humans have existed, there seems to have been an incessant need to label our successors as “dumber”, or incompetent in every sense. The newest victims? The two most hated, yet riveting generations: Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha. A lack of empathy, intelligence, compassion, respect for elders, common sense, you name it—Gen-Z and Gen Alpha are the epitome of such afflictions. Sarcasm aside, new findings point to the fact that American students’ performance in the classroom has been declining, and this time, it’s not just the studies that are voicing concerns, but also desperate teachers.

In September of 2023, user @QBSkiiii took to TikTok to express his concerns over teaching his seventh grade math class. “We all know that the world is behind, like globally…because of the pandemic and stuff, but I don’t understand why they’re not stressing to y’all how bad it is…I teach 7th grade, they are still performing on the 4th grade level…They just keep passing them on…I could put as many zeros in this gradebook as I want to…They’re going to move that child to the eighth grade next year.” Unfortunately, there is data to match QBSkiiii’s concerns. Lauren Lumpkin writes for the Washington Post in July of 2024, that “Between fall 2019 and 2022, national test scores sank four points in reading and nine points in math for 13-year-olds—the largest drop in math in half a century. And while scores have started to improve, researchers at the testing nonprofit NWEA estimated last summer that the average American eighth-grader would still need the equivalent of nine more months of schooling to catch up in math, compared with seven extra months in reading.”

But it’s not just math skills that American students are struggling to recover, but also composure and interest in the classroom. User @Kirstenkrafts, another middle-school teacher, in a video posted in February of 2023, claims that she knows exactly why so many teachers are quitting. “It’s apathy. The kids of today are not motivated at all. Even doing a fun book study, like, they don’t care. What’s worse about not caring about their work, is that they don’t care about consequences…How do you battle that? You can’t. There’s nothing more draining than consistently battling this apathy.” Kirsten is not alone in her disappointment, as Cory Turner reports for NPR in August of 2024, that “compared with last year, Gen Z students are less engaged at school.” Turner goes on to cite a Gallup survey of 2,317 Gen Z students (ages 12-18), which points out that only 58% of K-12 students find that they’ve learned something interesting at school, a measly amount compared to the 68% from 2023. Although Turner’s research finds that “A remarkable 68% of Gen-Z students with plans to go to a four-year college say they have a great future ahead”, non-college-bound students feel “considerably less rosy about their prospects–a warning to schools that they need to be more proactive and creative about helping teens dream big without simply saying, ‘Go to college.’”

So, the question arises—how do we fix this? How do we prevent American children from becoming pessimistic, test-failing, below-grade-level-achieving, always-playing-catch-up zombies? Teachers and experts both point to a variety of solutions, but all of them contain one crucial element—community. Stanford Professor Sean Reardon tells NPR in January of 2024, that recently, there have been significant improvements in math skills across the nation. Reardon states, “I think lots of schools are doing different things. But some of the research shows that one of the ways to help kids catch up most effectively is things like high-intensity tutoring, extra school time, summer learning programs, the sorts of things that make sure kids have extra instructional time. It’s hard to catch up when you’re half a year behind if you don’t have extra time to learn the extra material.” Bruno V. Manno offers a similar solution in an article for Forbes in April of this year, stating, “Competency-based instruction where students advance based on what they know rather than age; summer school; effective use of student time on task; and linking tutor vendor payments with student outcomes like attendance, and academic learning can improve learning and accountability for results.” Furthermore, Manno also emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the learning loss, “convinc[ing] the community that it exists”, and “includ[ing] specific strategies and milestones that describe actions to solve the learning loss puzzle.”

No, Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha are not “dumber.” In many ways, the two generations are ahead. For instance, they have a certain, undeniable spunk when it comes to activism and advocating for themselves. Whether that’s shown through refusing to do their classwork, or protesting for human rights, it’s an appreciable quality. The fact that they’re behind in academics is a result of a multitude of factors, the largest being the devastating impact of the COVID pandemic. The bottom line is that there is no simple solution to this crisis. However, with increased efforts from parents, students, and teachers, and increased accountability from the systems that have failed American students post-pandemic, it’s very possible that students can recover from the traumatic learning loss and a lack of motivation. After all, despite the human tendency to blame and criticize younger generations, humanity relies on passing the torch to our successors, no matter the circumstances.

Samin Subah