The average American student remains a half grade behind in math and reading from pre-pandemic levels and even further behind in reading than in 2022, according to a new study released Tuesday by the 2025 Education Recovery Scorecard.
The findings are as of spring 2024 for students in grades 3 to 8 across 43 states (and Washington, D.C.) with dependable data, according to the study.
The study found that no state outperformed math and reading assessments from 2019 levels, though a number of the 8,719 school districts scored above 2019 levels in both subjects.
According to the study, "17% of students in grades 3 to 8 are in districts with mean math achievement above 2019, 11% are in districts that have recovered in reading, and 6% are in districts which have recovered in both subjects."
Higher income districts were nearly 4 times more likely to have recovered in both math and reading than lower income districts, according to the study.
The study points to absenteeism as one symptom slowing the recovery of student learning, especially in high poverty districts, while adding that the "exact magnitude" of the impact is uncertain. Most districts regardless of income have seen a rise in student absenteeism, according to the study.
The study also found that federal relief dollars mitigated larger losses in higher poverty districts; 10% of a grade equivalent was saved thanks to federal dollars. But that's all in the past, said one researcher.
"The rescue phase is over. The federal relief dollars are gone. It is time to pivot from short-term recovery to longer term challenges such as reducing absenteeism and addressing the slide in literacy," Professor Tom Kane, faculty director of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard, said in the analysis.
Due to data limitations, Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Vermont are not included in the 2025 Education Recovery Scorecard findings.