Listen Live
Elementary school children are learning english in classroom

Source: aydinmutlu / Getty

Locking down schools during the pandemic caused serious damage to student achievement, as measure by the National Assessment of Educational Progress – known as the “nation’s report card.” From the Washington Examiner:

The biggest score declines were in math, which the National Center for Education Statistics said in a press release was the biggest decline ever recorded. For fourth graders, math scores declined by 5 points to 236 from their 2019 number of 241, while eighth grade scores plummeted 8 points from 282 to 274.

In reading, both fourth and eighth graders saw 3-point declines from 2019. Fourth grade scores fell from 220 to 217 and eighth grade scores from 263 to 260.

The Charlotte Observer has the local results for CMS:

CMS posted its worst scores on record in the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card. The percentage of students displaying at least basic reading and math skills is now lower than in 2003, when CMS began participating in the NAEP district-level assessment.

The district also saw achievement gaps between white and Black and Hispanic students grow by double-digits since 2003.

In response to a request for comment, CMS officials said they’d take time to digest the data before discussing it.

North Carolina’s reading and math scores on the NAEP exams also dropped — to the lowest levels in three decades. The state’s racial and socio-economic achievement gaps on the exams widened in several areas, too.

Listen Here: