National test scores fall to lowest levels in decades

Reading scores for elementary school students plunged to their lowest levels since 1990 during the first two years of the pandemic — and math scores dropped for the first time in the history of a nationally representative test dating back to the 1970s.

Why it matters: The national test results out Thursday lay out the extent to which the pandemic devastated learning outcomes for America's students, particularly for those that were most vulnerable even before the pandemic.

"These are some of the largest declines we have observed in a single assessment cycle in 50 years of the [National Assessment of Education Progress] program," acting associate commissioner Daniel McGrath said in a statement.

"Students in 2022 are performing at a level last seen two decades ago."