What damage does COVID-19 pandemic do to US education system?

Test results released Thursday showed U.S. nine-year-olds' performance in reading and math fell to levels last seen two decades ago, indicating the damage the COVID-19 pandemic has done to the U.S. education system, Reuters reported. 

The National Center for the Advancement of Education (NCEA) compared assessments taken in 2020, shortly before COVID-19 was declared a worldwide pandemic, with those taken in early 2022 to determine how the pandemic-related disruption in the classroom has affected children's academic performance.

In math, African-American students' scores dropped by 13 points, compared to 8 points for Hispanic students and 5 points for white students, part of a broader trend where minorities are disproportionately affected by the effects of the pandemic. Reading scores dropped six points evenly across all racial groups from 2020 to 2022.

Students with lower scores across all races also experienced much larger declines than students in the top percentiles of both test categories.

On the NCEA reading assessment, students read short texts and answered multiple-choice questions or wrote longer answers. In math, students answered mostly multiple-choice questions about basic math facts, calculations, formulas, and real-world applications.

The study also surveyed students about how the pandemic affected their learning environment. Seventy percent of students said they recalled learning remotely at some point during the 2020-2021 school year.

Among distance learners, 83% of students performing at or above the 75th percentile in reading and math had regular access to a computer or tablet, compared to 61% of students performing at or below the 25th percentile.