Student test scores plummeted in math and reading after the pandemic, new assessment finds

Math and reading scores for 9-year-olds in the US fell between 2020 and 2022 by a level not seen in decades, a foreboding sign of the state of American education two years after the Covid-19 pandemic began.

The results were part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress long-term trend reading and math exams, often called the "Nation's Report Card," conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. The exams were administered to age-9 students in early 2020 before the pandemic and then again in early 2022, the group said.

The average scores in 2022 declined 5 points in reading and 7 points in math compared to 2020 -- the largest decline in reading since 1990 and the first ever decline in math, the organization said.

US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona told CNN on Thursday the drop in scores was connected to the lack of in-person classroom education during the Covid-19 pandemic and said the US is in an education crisis.