Testing Data Shows Middle Schoolers Are Further Behind in Science Than in 2021

Tuesday’s release of NWEA science scores underlines a disturbing trend: Older students aren’t recovering from COVID as fast as they need to.

Middle schoolers are still lagging months behind pre-pandemic achievement levels in science, according to newly released test scores. Disturbingly, their losses in the subject have actually grown since the worst days of the COVID crisis. 

The scores, released Tuesday by the nonprofit testing group NWEA, serve as more evidence of a trend that has stood out in earlier data: Students who were still in elementary school when the pandemic began are experiencing particularly worrisome setbacks as schools try to chart a path to academic recovery. Meanwhile, today’s elementary schoolers have nearly returned to the levels of learning last seen in 2019.