Randi Weingarten Flunks the Pandemic – WSJ

The 2020 NAEP tests were administered shortly before pandemic lockdowns and school closures, so this year s results provide a snapshot of how students have weathered those two years. It s not pretty. Average nine-year-old scores declined the most on record in math (seven points) and in reading since 1990 (five points). Two decades of progress have been erased in two years.

Results were even worse for lower-income and minority students. Math scores fell by 13 points for black students and eight points for Hispanics compared to five points for whites. Reading scores for low-income students fell twice as much as for others.

Higher achievers fared somewhat better but still did worse than two years ago. Scores for students at the 90th percentile fell two points in reading versus 10 points for those in the bottom 10th percentile. The gap between high and low performers had been growing before the pandemic, but now has widened even more, as have racial disparities.

via www.wsj.com