Math and reading scores for America’s nine-year-olds plummeted during the first two years of the pandemic, according to a new government study that showcases the chaos caused by mass school closures.
Reading scores saw their largest drop in three decades and math scores fell for the first time since records began, according to the federal government's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
The declines, measured from 2020 to 2022, hit all regions of the country and students from most backgrounds — underscoring how home-learning during the pandemic was no substitute for in-classroom teaching.
