Are Declining Test Scores Coming for the COVID Generation?

Published June 15, 2022

National test scores suggest that large economic shocks lead to long-lasting effects on student achievement. It happened with students born during the Great Recession and is likely to happen again with the COVID-19 generation. In the coming years, test scores in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) will reflect these consequences, but there is still time to remedy the losses in education that children experienced during the pandemic.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What would be an effective way to catch students up to their grade levels?
  2. What type of effect will online learning have on young children?

Additional resources:

  • Read “Declining NAEP Scores Are Flashing Red Lights for the COVID Generation,” by Michael J. Petrilli. Available here.
  • Read “Bad Student Scores in History and Civics Flatten the Wrong Curve,” by David Davenport. Available here.
  • Listen to “A $14 Trillion Loss from Coronavirus-Related School Closures,” with Eric Hanushek and Paul Peterson, on The Education Exchange. Available here.

Cast

Michael J. Petrilli

Michael J. Petrilli

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