‘US reading scores dropped back to 1992 levels due to COVID-19’

The math and reading scores of American students sharply dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the education secretary called the national test results « appalling and unacceptable. »

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card, released full data Monday for the first time since 2019, after the 2021 exams were postponed a year.

NAEP assessed a representative sample of fourth- and eighth-grade students, finding reading scores dropped back to 1992 levels. Mathematics slid back to 2003 levels.

One-quarter of fourth…