When the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States in early 2020, public school officials were suddenly and unexpectedly forced to make life-and-death decisions. As the American death toll mounted (more than 1 million at the time of this writing), states across America closed their schools. This proved controversial, with many liberals joining conservatives in worrying that doing so would set American children back in their education. Over time, research emerged suggesting those fears were not unfounded.
Now, many critics of school closures are claiming vindication after the release on Monday of the Nation's Report Card by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). It revealed, among other things, that between 2019 and 2022 American fourth-graders and eighth-graders suffered the sharpest drop in math skills ever recorded since the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) began these studies in 1969. Reading scores also fell in most states during those years, reaching levels not seen since 1992 and with both grades seeing drops of three points in their average scores (220 to 217 for fourth grade and 263 to 260 for eighth grade). In math, by contrast, the average scores fell from 241 to 236 for fourth-graders and 282 to 274 for eighth-graders. Researchers believe that a drop of 10 points is equivalent to roughly one year of learning.
