COVID-19 a blow for students across US

WASHINGTON — The COVID-19 pandemic spared no state or region as it caused historic learning setbacks for children in the United States, erasing decades of academic progress and widening racial disparities, according to the results of a national test that provided the sharpest look yet at the scale of the crisis.

Across the country, math scores saw their largest decreases ever. Reading scores dropped to 1992 levels. Nearly four in 10 eighth graders failed to grasp basic math concepts. Not a single state saw a notable improvement in their average test scores, with some simply treading water at best.

Those are the findings from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation's report card, which tested hundreds of thousands of fourth and eighth graders across the country this year. It was the first time the test had been given since 2019, and it is seen as the first nationally representative study of the pandemic's impact on learning.

"It is a serious wake-up call for us all," said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, a branch of the Education Department, in an interview. "In NAEP, when we experience a 1- or 2-point decline, we're talking about it as a significant impact on a student's achievement. In math, we experienced an 8-point decline — historic for this assessment."

Researchers usually think of a 10-point gain or drop as equivalent to roughly a year of learning.

The pandemic upended every facet of life and left millions learning from home for months or more. The results released on Monday reveal the depth of those setbacks, and the size of the challenge facing schools as they help students catch up.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said it is a sign that schools need to redouble their efforts, using billions of dollars that Congress gave schools to help students recover. "Let me be very clear. These results are not acceptable," Cardona said.

In both math and reading, students scored lower than those tested in 2019. But while reading scores dipped, math scores plummeted by the largest margins in the history of the NAEP test, which began in 1969.

No part of the country was exempt. Every region saw test scores slide, and every state saw declines in at least one subject.

Several major districts saw test scores fall by more than 10 points. Cleveland saw the largest single drop, falling 16 points in fourth-grade reading.

Agencies via Xinhua