New data underscores a troubling trend: Middle schoolers’ reading scores are stuck at post-pandemic lows, even as younger students show some signs of academic recovery.
The research, from the assessment and research organization NWEA, examines 6th graders’ reading scores on the company’s MAP Growth tests between 2017 and 2025.
On average, 6th graders lost ground between 2019 and 2021, during the height of COVID-related school disruptions. But after that, achievement trends began to diverge for students who were already stronger readers before the pandemic began, and students who were struggling.