Years After the Pandemic, Younger Students Still Have Far to Go in Reading, Report Says

Kids in grades K-2 didn’t experience school closures and online instruction, suggesting system challenges, not just learning disruptions, are in play.

A second-grade teacher goes over a worksheet at Cordova Villa Elementary School in Rancho Cordova, Calif. Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo

Reading levels in early elementary school grades have remained fairly stagnant since the COVID-19 pandemic, a national education assessment and research organization revealed this week.

A new policy brief from NWEA, formerly the Northwest Evaluation Association, says first- and second-grade reading achievement “remains stalled with little rebounding,” while math achievement in those grades showed modest recovery since 2021, and kindergarten levels in both subject areas have remained mostly steady.