‘Nation’s Report Card’ shows new evidence of Covid-19’s devastating impact on US children’s education

Fourth- and eighth-graders fell behind in reading and had the largest ever decline in math, according to a national educational assessment showing the devastating effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on America’s children.

The alarming findings are based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress reading and math exams, often called the “Nation’s Report Card” and conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, a branch of the Education Department.

“If this is not a wake-up call for us to double down our efforts and improve education, even before it was – before the pandemic, then I don’t know what will,” US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona told CNN’s Brianna Keilar during an appearance on “New Day” Monday.

He called on schools to ensure they are using funding from the Covid relief package passed in 2021 to boost student scores.

Cardona suggested widespread teacher shortages are a “symptom of decades of underinvestment” in schools and called on districts to pay teachers more competitively.