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.