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Reading Scores Stall for Young Students While Math Shows Gains in 2024-25
NWEA analysis shows 1st and 2nd graders lag behind pre-pandemic peers in reading and math, with reading stagnant and math gaining modestly each year.
- On March 10, 2026, NWEA released an analysis showing 1st- and 2nd-graders scored below pre-pandemic peers on 2024–25 assessments, with math edging up while reading stayed flat.
- Pandemic-Era closures and early-learning losses left preschool attendance falling from 48% to 40%, with thousands of child-care centers closing and societal shifts hindering reading development.
- The NWEA report shows 1st- and 2nd-graders scored below pre-pandemic levels on 2024–25 assessments, with math shortfalls of about a third of a month for 1st graders and one month for 2nd graders.
- NWEA recommends that state and district leaders identify system-level issues like staffing and curriculum challenges, while many districts expand pre-kindergarten programs and increase phonics support.
- Amid tight budgets, NWEA warns that shortfalls reflect 'broader, longer-lasting system-level challenges,' and Megan Kuhfeld said, 'We can't pinpoint one specific cause'.
33 Articles
33 Articles
The Billings Gazette
Literacy scores show ongoing pandemic effects
WASHINGTON — When COVID-19 wrought havoc on society in early 2020, today's youngest schoolchildren were infants or yet to be born. Now in their early school years, researchers are beginning to see how the pandemic years have shaped their education,…
Years After the Pandemic, Younger Students Still Have Far to Go in Reading, Report Says
Reading levels in early elementary school grades have remained fairly stagnant since the COVID-19 pandemic, a national education assessment and research organization revealed this week. A new policy brief from NWEA, formerly the Northwest Evaluation Association, says first- and second-grade reading achievement “remains stalled with little rebounding,” while math achievement in those grades showed modest recovery since 2021, and kindergarten leve…
Research shows that the impact of the pandemic is also visible in students' reading comprehension. Young people's achievements are lagging behind, indicating a profound social impact and lasting backwardness.
The Columbian
The Mercury newsYoung kids missed the pandemic’s school disruptions. Their reading scores are still behind
WASHINGTON — When COVID-19 wrought havoc on society in early 2020, today’s youngest schoolchildren were infants or yet to be born. Now in their early school years, researchers are beginning to see how the pandemic years have shaped their education, even though many had yet to set foot in a classroom when it began. Read more...
Residual shifts slow younger students
WASHINGTON — When COVID-19 wrought havoc on society in early 2020, today's youngest schoolchildren were infants or yet to be born. Now in their early school years, researchers are beginning to see how the pandemic years have shaped their education,…
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