Students once thrived in schools among peers. There were individual interactions with teachers and the day-to-day pattern of school life. There was motivation to read, learn, and fully engage in their education. COVID-19 turned all that upside down, though – leaving a lasting impact on their learning journey.
New national test results reveal an alarming trend–students impacted by pandemic-era disruptions are scoring lower than students who sat for the test before the pandemic.
Nationwide in 2024, 31% of fourth graders earned high enough scores to reach the advanced level on the national reading assessment. That was 2% fewer than in 2022 and 4% fewer than in 2019. Meanwhile, 30% of eighth graders earned high enough to reach the advanced level on the national reading assessment. Although the shift from 2022 wasn’t so extreme, it still represents a decline from the figures of 2019.
“There was a gap because a lot of the students were home and didn’t have a teacher. And there is a lot to say, and research points to this very much — when students have direct instruction and are being led by a live teacher, there is definitely a lot to say for education; it does support their learning tremendously,” said Robert Sarmiento, the principal at MAST@FIU.
In Florida, fourth graders scored an average of 243 in math, which is higher than the national average of 237. On the other hand, eighth graders in Florida scored an average of 253 in reading, falling short of the national average of 257.
The pandemic hit all students hard. It wasn’t easy for them to get back on track.
Marichelle, a student, shared her experience: ‘I wasn’t able to have interactions in school with my friends. All those connections kind of just … they loosened up. So I definitely felt that I wasn’t learning the same. It just wasn’t the same as it should have been.’
