Last month, new National Assessment of Educational Progress long-term trend data showed profound declines in math and reading scores among 9-year-old American students over the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Average math scores dropped 7 points, representing the first statistically significant drop in scores since the first such assessment in 1973. A 5-point drop in average reading scores was the first statistically significant drop in scores since a 4-point decline between 1980 and 1984, according to NAEP data.
Ultimately, the data revealed a loss of roughly two decades of progress in student scores.
