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.
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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