Reading scores for students in kindergarten through eighth grade have improved over the past year, providing hope after a long season of post-COVID stagnation, a new study reveals.
Reading scores fell into a historic slump between 2022 and 2025. But that pandemic gap has narrowed by about 15% to 33% over the past year, returning closer to pre-COVID levels, according to NWEA’s latest Trends Snapshot.
Eighth-grade scores improved the most while kindergarteners’ results—which never dipped significantly—continued to improve. The math results were mixed, according to K-8 MAP Growth scores between spring 2025 and spring 2026.
Especially encouraging news is that historically underserved groups, such as Black and Hispanic students attending high-poverty schools, made some of the biggest gains.
In contrast to reading scores, math improvement rates for 2025-2026 were more inconsistent. Though K-8 math scores have risen steadily since 2021, only K-5 scores continued to climb over the last year, with middle schoolers in all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups falling behind.
Considering the literacy struggles of adolescents post-COVID, there is a lot to be optimistic about. Nevertheless, Dr. Karyn Lewis, vice president of research and policy partnerships at NWEA, advises caution:
“Reading scores in most grades still remain below pre-pandemic levels, and persistent gaps by race/ethnicity and school poverty level are not gone,” Lewis said in a statement. “Recovery will require sustained attention and interventions for students who were furthest from opportunity before and after the pandemic.”
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