The 2022–23 National Assessment of Educational Progress test indicates 13-year-olds are worse at reading and mathematics than they were in the 2019–20 school year. The falls wipe out decades of improvement, putting reading scores one point above what they were in 1971 and math scores five points above.
Experts say that the pandemic likely caused these decreased scores.
“For many students, they were not exposed to quality, curriculum, and instruction. Most of the education that they received was via distance learning,” he said.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, some worry the accelerated academic decline it seems to have started is only getting worse.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test for the 2022–23 school year
indicates that 13-year-olds are poorer at reading and mathematics than during the 2019–20 school year.