America’s report card is in

The Covid pandemic contributed to historic learning setbacks for US children in reading and math, per the 2022 Nation's Report Card published yesterday by the Education Department.

🏫 Background… This year's report is the first since 2019. But every two years since the 1980s, the federal government has tested thousands of fourth- and eighth-graders from all 50 states on their reading and math skills, with results generally ticking upwards over time – especially in math.

📝 This year’s results: Every major US region (Northeast, Midwest, etc.) saw test scores fall, and every state experienced declines in one or both subjects. The lone bright spot was Los Angeles, where eighth-grade reading scores increased by 9 points – the only “significant uptick” in any major US school district across all categories, per the AP.

• Average math scores in 2022 fell by their largest margin ever, dropping eight points out of a possible 500. Nearly 40% of eighth graders failed to grasp basic math concepts, the Education Department found.
• In reading, scores fell by three points to reach a level last seen in 1991. For context, researchers typically think of a 10-point gain or drop as roughly equal to a year of learning, per the AP.

🎓📉 Zoom out: Falling test scores aren’t just isolated to fourth- and eighth-graders. The average ACT score for high school seniors fell for the fifth straight year to its lowest level in over three decades, per new data published this month by ACT Inc., which administers the test.