Dive Brief:
- U.S. 8th graders’ performance declined in both computer and information literacy and computational thinking between 2018 and 2023 on the International Computer and Information Literacy Study, a global assessment that gauges key computer and information literacy skills.
- U.S. students’ average scores in both subjects dropped 37 points within the five-year period, according to data released Tuesday by the National Center for Education Statistics.
- The U.S. average score for computer and information literacy (482) remained on par with the international average of 476, NCES said. For computational thinking, however, the U.S. average score of 461 was lower than the average ICILS score of 483.
Dive Insight:
The ICILS assessment is designed to measure how “prepared students are for today’s digital learning and working environments,” NCES said in a statement.
“Overall, the 2023 results in ICILS for the United States are disappointing,” said Dan McGrath, associate commissioner for assessments at NCES, during a recent press briefing. These results, he added, highlight “the need for further inquiry and concentrated efforts to address the computer and information literacy skills of our students.”
Specifically for computer and information literacy, ICILS examines 8th graders’ abilities to use computers for investigating, creating, participating and communicating at home, school, the workplace and society.
NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr noted in a statement how many 8th graders are struggling with key digital literacy skills like identifying the credibility of news and information online.
“The study raises questions about the technological savvy of students who have been dubbed
‘digital natives,’” Carr said. “It might be assumed that this cohort of students, born when the iPhone was launched and raised in a world in which computers and smartphones are commonplace, would navigate an assessment like this one with ease, but these findings show that is not the case for many students. Students now use this technology for hours each day, but many students do not have the basic skills they need to be safe while using it.”
Some 35 education systems worldwide, including the U.S., participated in the 2023 ICILS assessments. Within that, 24 of those education systems, including the U.S., chose to participate in the computational thinking exam, which was optional.
ICILS’ computational thinking exam was designed to understand an individual’s ability to recognize real-world problems “that are appropriate for computational formulation” while also evaluating and creating algorithmic solutions to those problems, NCES said.
The findings come as a small, but growing number of states require media literacy in K-12 schools. As of May, only three states — Georgia, New Jersey and Delaware — required schools to include such instruction in their classrooms, according to nonprofit Media Literacy Now. Additionally, California, Florida and Ohio’s education agencies are required to create K-12 media literacy standards and frameworks.
Calls for such laws and curriculum requirements follow concerns for students who need the skills to spot misinformation online.
In January 2023, when New Jersey became the first in the nation to sign a statewide information literacy requirement for schools, Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement that the need for this curriculum comes at a time when “democracy remains under sustained attack through the proliferation of disinformation.”
On top of that, some artificial intelligence-generated content known as deepfakes has the potential to exacerbate misinformation online, experts warn. As technology progresses with the development of generative AI, media literacy advocates have also called on schools to help teach students how to spot deepfakes, including fake photos, video and audio developed with AI tools.
