Math and Reading Scores for 9-Year-Olds Steeply Declined During Pandemic

Math and reading scores for nine-year-olds dropped to their lowest since 1990 during the coronavirus pandemic a survey shows.

Released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the new data shows nine-year-olds’ reading scores saw the steepest decline since 1990 (a full five-point drop) while math scores saw a record drop of seven points. The results were tracked by the special administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which has often been referred to as the “nation’s report card.”

Peggy G. Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, called the historic results “sobering” in a statement to the Washington Post 

“These results are sobering,” Carr said. “It’s clear that covid-19 shocked American education and stunted the academic growth of this age group.”

Noting classroom disruption, violence, truancy, cyberbullying, and absent teachers also rose during the pandemic, Carr said a variety of factors “contextualize” the data.

The math score of 234 equaled the score in 1999 while the reading score of 215 equaled the score in 2004. Exactly how long it will take for the scores to jump back to pre-pandemic levels remains unknown.

To make matters worse, students who were already struggling pre-pandemic suffered an even steeper drop compared to their counterparts, dropping an average of 12 points in reading and math. Black students dropped an average of 13 points in Math while Hispanic students dropped eight points; whites by five points. All three groups dropped by six points in reading.

“While we see declines at all performance levels, the growing gap between students at the top and those at the bottom is an important but overlooked trend,” said Martin West, a member of the governing board that sets policy for NAEP. “These results show that this gap widened further during the pandemic.”

“Supporting the academic recovery of lower-performing students should be a top priority for educators and policymakers nationwide,” West said.