Pandemic schooling didn’t work for a lot of kids. While this is widely acknowledged, it helps to have data to back up the assumption. And now we have it, for 9‑year‐olds at least.
Scores were released today for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which is often called the nation’s report card. This data comes from a special long‐term trend assessment of 9‑year‐old students conducted this past January to March. Peggy Carr, Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), noted today’s release is “the first nationally representative report comparing student achievement from before the pandemic to now.”
Unfortunately, the predictions about how kids were faring educationally were correct. Average scores fell 5 points in reading and 7 points in mathematics compared to 2020. This is the largest drop in reading since 1990, and the first ever statistically significant decline in mathematics.
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