Education

Math Scores During The Pandemic Plummeted In Every State: REPORT

(Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

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Reagan Reese Contributor
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Math scores declined in every state during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an Education Department report released Monday.

Every state saw a decline in math scores since 2019, with students in fourth and eighth-grade showing the largest drops ever recorded, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Of fourth-grade students, 43 states saw a decline in scores and 50 states as well as Washington D.C. saw a decline in eighth-grade math scores. (RELATED:Here’s How Much Pandemic Learning Loss Is Costing School Districts)

“The results show the profound toll on student learning during the pandemic, as the size and scope of the declines are the largest ever in mathematics,” U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics Commissioner Peggy G. Carr said in a press release. “The results also underscore the importance of instruction and the role of schools in both students’ academic growth and their overall wellbeing. It’s clear we all need to come together—policymakers and community leaders at every level—as partners in helping our educators, children, and families succeed.”

Since 2019, fourth-grade math scores decreased by an average of five points and eighth-grade math scores decreased by eight points, the report showed. Approximately 58% of fourth grade students said they were remote learning at some point in the last year while 73% of eighth grade students experienced remote learning in the last year.

In math, just 36% of fourth graders were proficient in the subject and 26% of eighth graders were proficient, the report card stated.

An instructor (L) helps a student with her online school lesson at a desk separated from others by plastic barriers at STAR Eco Station Tutoring & Enrichment Center on September 10, 2020 in Culver City, California. - California public school students will continue to learn at home, in private learning pods, or at specialized enrichment centers like Star Eco Station as the coronavirus pandemic continues, after a lawsuit brought by the Orange County Board of Education seeking to compel the state to reopen public schools was shot down by the California Supreme Court on September 10. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

An instructor (L) helps a student with her online school lesson at a desk separated from others by plastic barriers at STAR Eco Station Tutoring & Enrichment Center on September 10, 2020 in Culver City, California.  (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

In September, the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that math and reading levels dropped back two decades in math and reading levels. Reading scores fell back to where they were in 1990 and math scores saw their first ever decline.

School districts who resorted to remote learning the longest suffered the largest learning loss, posting a 13% sharper drop than schools that returned to in-person learning quicker.

On Oct. 12, recent high school graduates posted the lowest score on the ACT, a college admissions exam, in nearly 30 years. It was the first time since 1991 that the composite score was below 20 out of a total of 36.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to their press release.

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