What does the new Education Scorecard show?

It shows that national declines in math and reading began before the pandemic, while schools are still recovering from major losses and some are now posting gains.

Did COVID cause the drop in test scores?

The scorecard suggests COVID worsened the decline, but did not start it. The data indicates student performance had already been slipping beforehand.

Why do the gains at some schools matter?

They suggest recovery is possible and may offer lessons for other districts trying to improve math and reading outcomes after years of decline.

Test Score Slide Predated COVID, Some Schools Recover

America’s test score slump did not begin with the pandemic. New data shows a longer slide — and points to schools starting to reverse it.

America’s student achievement crisis started before classrooms shut down, and the latest Education Scorecard makes that point impossible to ignore.

The annual scorecard shows schools still climbing out of deep losses in math and reading, but it also traces the downturn to years before COVID-19 upended daily life. That finding shifts the story. The pandemic intensified the damage, but reports indicate the academic erosion had already taken hold, raising tougher questions about what schools struggled to fix even in more stable times.

Key Facts

The annual Education Scorecard says math and reading declines began before the pandemic.
Schools nationwide still show the effects of steep academic losses.
Some schools are now making gains as recovery efforts continue.
The new data suggests COVID worsened an existing trend rather than starting it.

That matters because it changes what recovery looks like. If the slide began earlier, schools cannot frame the challenge as a one-time pandemic setback. They face a deeper problem in how students build reading and math skills over time. Sources suggest the schools posting gains may offer clues, though the signal here stops short of detailing a single formula or naming one approach as the answer.

The new scorecard suggests schools are not just recovering from a disruption; they are confronting a decline that was already underway.

The emerging bright spots still matter. In a bleak national picture, evidence that some schools are improving gives educators and families something more useful than blame: proof that progress remains possible. The gains do not erase the scale of the losses, but they do challenge the idea that stagnation is inevitable.

What happens next will shape more than the next testing cycle. Policymakers, school leaders, and parents now have to decide whether they will treat these results as a temporary aftershock or as a warning about a longer-running failure. The schools making gains will draw closer scrutiny, because if their progress holds, they may help define the next phase of academic recovery in the United States.

Test Score Slide Predated COVID, Some Schools Recover

Key Facts

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