Years After The Pandemic, Younger Students Still Have Far To Go In Reading, Report Says
Authored by Aaron Gifford via The Epoch Times,
Reading levels in early elementary school grades have remained fairly stagnant since the COVID-19 pandemic, a national education assessment and research organization revealed this week.
A new policy brief from NWEA, formerly the Northwest Evaluation Association, says first- and second-grade reading achievement “remains stalled with little rebounding,” while math achievement in those grades showed modest recovery since 2021, and kindergarten levels in both subject areas have remained mostly steady.
The findings were pulled from NWEA’s ongoing analysis of K-8 students across 30,000 schools dating back to 2017.
For reading, these early grade patterns closely resemble those recently observed in grades 3-8. Current first- and second graders were “day-care age” during the most disruptive periods of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, yet their achievement mirrors that of older students who experienced those disruptions earlier in their elementary school careers. This suggests broader, longer-lasting system challenges, as opposed to interruptions to a single cohort, said Megan Kuhfeld, NWEA’s data analytics director.
“It is important that we understand the depth and persistence of unfinished learning from the pandemic’s disruptions, but we must also focus on our lens beyond the COVID-19 years,” she said in a news release. “While these youngest elementary students were just infants and toddlers when COVID-19 hit, this stagnation in reading and uneven recovery in math is an indicator of something bigger impacting our education system that extends beyond one cohort or a moment in time.”
The report also notes that while first- and second-grade math scores have steadily improved since 2022, overall achievement remains below pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, gaps have narrowed across various student groups, including those from low-income households, blacks, and Hispanics.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress reports list average state assessment scores in reading and math by grade level and note percentages that are below or above basic and proficiency levels. NWEA’s reports for early grade levels, by contrast, show numbers on a chart that indicate a standardized difference in mean achievement compared to 2019, the pre-COVID reference year. For reading, the 2025 number was -0.13 for second grade, and -0.11 for first. For math, the numbers were -0.15 and -0.05, respectively, but both were still an improvement from 2021.
The math and reading scores for kindergarten achievement both showed positive numbers that were higher than 2019 levels.
NWEA suggests that school leaders should review staffing levels and instructional materials as they consider improvement plans.
In another recent report, NWEA found that only one-third of American K-12 schools have returned to pre-COVID pandemic achievement levels in math or reading.
Standardized tests in every state will take place before March 20. This year’s assessments include math and reading for grades four and eight, and a U.S. history and civics exam for grade eight.
The 2026 reading and math results will be released in early 2027. The U.S. history and civics results will follow, with a summer 2027 release date expected.