The recently released ‘National Report Card’ test scores show 40% of fourth graders don’t have basic reading skills, and 39% of eighth graders are behind in math. The numbers of lagging students are up 6 and 8 percentage points, respectively, since 2019, and the shutdowns and stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic.

School kids — across grade levels, demographics, geographies, types of school and economic class — have all seen math and reading test scores slide since before the pandemic.

In the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests, no U.S. state saw improvements in eighth-grade math scores from 2019, and only Louisiana saw gains in fourth-grade reading.

States such as Oregon, Maryland, Delaware, Washington and Florida saw double-digit drops in some of their test results from before the pandemic.

“We have definitely seen significant learning loss,” said Levy, founder and director of EBL Learning, which offers one-on-one tutoring services to kids in New York and New Jersey. “Pretty much from all kids.”

Levy is especially concerned about learning loss among younger kids from COVID disruptions and post-pandemic hangovers.

“Those are really when the foundations of learning are established,” Levy said of early elementary grades. Kids who fall behind — or start behind — can struggle moving forward, she said.

Levy sees a mixed bag when it comes to school districts and their post-COVID paths. The pandemic started in 2020 and officially ended in 2023.

“Some schools are really trying to address those learning gaps,” she said. “Others have just continued to move forward” with their usual instruction approaches and pace, Levy said.

That’s problematic, and can be rooted in bureaucratic cultures and classroom teachers having too many students and not enough time to address individual students’ learning challenges.

Nhon Ma, CEO and co-founder of education technology startup Numerade, said it’s not just the NAEP test where U.S. students are struggling.

“We are seeing STEM scores at 30-year lows. COVID certainly had lots to do with this. This in addition to the flood of AI inundating students with easily accessible answers over the past two-plus years,” Nhon said.

“We are 27 points lower since prior to the pandemic on the average math performance on the international TIMSS exam. This is a tragic reality we must face head-on as a nation,” he said, referring to the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study.

‘A BIG PAIN POINT’

Sari Factor, chief strategy officer for Imagine Learning LLC, an education technology firm that offers online learning curriculums to schools, said students fell behind, on average, more than four months with all the disruptions and stresses of COVID.

“It’s a big pain point for all of us,” she said.

She said school districts and teachers weren’t really equipped to transfer over to online instruction during the pandemic, and now need to look at ways to catch up, such as high-dosage tutoring and more individualized instruction approaches.

“Nobody was set up to Zoom school,” Factor said of districts, classroom teachers and populations of students who might not have had adequate internet or technology access at home.

Factor said younger kids aren’t as equipped to learn online as their older counterparts.

“For kids in (kindergarten through fifth grade), imagine teaching reading over Zoom,” Factor said. “It doesn’t work very well. They also missed the socialization. Learning is a human endeavor.”

There are continued scholastic gaps based on wealth and poverty, as well as with “English learners’ versus native speakers. But the post-COVID challenges persist for all students.

“Both math and reading have really fallen,” said MacKenzie Price, founder of 2HR Learning and Alpha Schools, which offers a more condensed learning model and smaller classrooms at schools in Florida, Texas and California.

Price said that kids who fall behind early and continue to struggle going forward lose confidence and engagement.

“Competence breeds confidence,” she said, noting the challenges pre- and post-pandemic faced by kids with learning challenges or coming from underserved or marginalized communities.

“Traditional schooling does a terrible job of motivating students,” Price said.

‘URGENT WAKE-UP CALL’

State school superintendents across the country recognized the test scores as a continued call for action.

“The drop in eighth-grade reading scores is part of a broader national trend,” said Utah State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sydnee Dickson, who is stepping down from her appointed post in June, referring to her state’s 4 percentage point drop in reading proficiency since 2022 and 6 points since 2019. “More children are falling below the proficient level, underscoring the critical need to double down on effective reading interventions and support for our students.”

In Wyoming, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, a Republican, noted her state outperformed the national average, stressing a continued focus on third-grade reading proficiency. In a statement, her office noted the post-pandemic need to find best practices for “early literacy instruction” and “growing mental health and behavior issues with students.”

In Wisconsin, Democratic State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly called the new NAEP test scores an “urgent wake-up call” and called for increased state education funding.

All this comes as President Donald Trump eyes a potential dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education as part of an austerity push, arguing education should be more at the state and local level, school districts navigate funding streams after federal infusions during COVID, and the teaching profession sees contemporary challenges with burnout and attrition.

‘SUBSTANTIAL HIT’

Other educators have seen a decline in reading among students and across society propelled by social media and technology.

“Reading has taken a substantial hit; kids are, with certain exceptions, just not doing much of it anymore,” said Dan Uln, CEO of Elite Student Coach, which helps students with their college paths.

Amy Kirkcaldy, a master admissions counselor at IvyWise, which also helps students with their college plans and academic paths, agrees.

“They just don’t read books anymore,” she said, pointing to the K-12 preference for electronic books.

Katrina Gomez, a Florida-based instructor with tutoring service Kumon North American and a former elementary school teacher, said some students have struggled with learning consistency since the pandemic, and post-COVID inflation and economic stresses have challenged families’ ability to pay for tutoring programs.

“Which can make it difficult for them to commit fully to extracurricular learning,” Gomez said.

‘CRACKING THE CODE’

Jess Reid Sliwerski, CEO of Ignite Reading (which offers one-on-one online tutoring), challenges traditional approaches to reading and reading comprehension. She said as many as 60% of young students need “super explicit instruction, plus lots of repetition.”

“The brain literally has to be hardwired and almost remapped in order for reading to become an automatic process,” she said. “They need systematic, direct, explicit instruction in what are called foundational reading skills.”

“The English language is code, and you have to learn how to crack that code,” Sliwerski said.

Unfortunately, it’s hard for school systems to change their modus operandi.

“School systems operate like factory models,” said Sliwerski, who sees the need for paradigm shafts and new approaches.

She’s not alone.

Next story up — Solutions.