Pennsylvania public schools still may be grappling with the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, according to a national report on reading and math proficiency among fourth grade and eighth grade students.

Reading test score declines began in 2019, exacerbated due to pandemic-related setbacks and have continued to slide because of the nation's "complex challenges in reading," said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, at a news conference Tuesday.

The release of scores from last year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” is the second since the COVID-19 pandemic began

“Overall, student achievement has not returned to pre-pandemic performance,” National Center for Education Statistics Commissioner Peggy G. Carr said in a news release. “Where there are signs of recovery, they are mostly in math and largely driven by higher-performing students. Lower-performing students are struggling, especially in reading.”

The nation's young people scored an average 5 points lower in reading than kids who tested before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, from 220 to 215 for fourth graders and from 263 to 258 for eighth graders.

Reading scores declined between 2022 and 2024 for students in Austin and across U.S., according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Math performance in North Carolina has slightly improved since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted schooling, but reading scores remain below pre-pandemic levels, according to new data released Wednesday by the U.