New test scores from the 2023 school year show a near-catastrophic fall in U.S. school test scores compared to the 2019 pre-pandemic scores.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) standardized math test shows the average mathematics score for fourth graders has dropped by 18 points while scores for eighth graders declined by 27 points.
The low scores are not found only in the U.S. Most industrialized nations are seeing a fall in test scores since the pandemic, although the drop is not as precipitous as in the United States.
“Globally, we are seeing declines in achievement, even in traditionally high-performing systems,” NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr said in a statement.
The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS, show long-term damage done to children who were kept home by ill-considered school closures.
Not surprisingly, poorer kids without access to computers ended up even further behind.
NCES:
Of the 70 percent of 9-year-olds who learned remotely during the 2020–21 school year, higher performers (those at or above the 75th percentile) had greater access to a desktop computer, laptop, or tablet all the time; a…
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