Evidence · School closures
How much did children lose when schools closed?
The record on learning, test scores and attendance since 2020, with a link to every source.
The short answer
U.S. children lost more learning during the pandemic than in any period on record. Students who stayed in remote school longest lost the most, and children in high-poverty schools lost the most of all. As of spring 2024, the average student was still nearly half a grade level behind, and far more children now miss school regularly.
Test scores fell to historic lows
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the country's longest-running test of what students know. From 2020 to 2022, 9-year-olds dropped 5 points in reading and 7 points in math. The reading drop was the largest since 1990. The math drop was the first ever recorded for that age.
Scores did not bounce back. In the 2024 NAEP results, reading fell another 2 points in grades 4 and 8. About 40% of fourth graders scored below the Basic level in reading, the largest share since 2002. High school seniors in the class of 2024 posted the lowest scores ever reported on both tests.
Longer remote school meant larger losses
Researchers at Harvard and elsewhere studied test data from about 2.1 million students in nearly 10,000 schools. Districts that stayed remote for much of 2020-21 had the largest declines. In those districts, high-poverty schools lost about half a year of growth, roughly twice the loss in low-poverty schools.
A separate study of spring 2021 tests in 12 states found that math pass rates fell an average of 14.2 percentage points. Districts with more in-person school lost less.
Schools could have opened sooner
Evidence that classrooms could open safely came early. A CDC study of 17 Wisconsin schools in fall 2020, co-authored by Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg, linked only 7 of 191 cases to spread inside school. Case rates in those schools ran 37% below the rate in the surrounding county.
In early 2022, a group of physicians that included Dr. Høeg published the Urgency of Normal toolkit. It gathered the research on how closures and restrictions harmed children's mental health.
The children with the least lost the most
A review of studies published in Nature Human Behaviour found that losses fell hardest on children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The gaps that existed before 2020 grew wider. NAEP shows the same pattern: the 2024 declines came mostly from lower-performing students, while the strongest students held steady.
Recovery is incomplete
The Education Recovery Scorecard from Harvard and Stanford tracks every state and most districts. As of spring 2024, no state scored above its 2019 level in both math and reading. Only about 6% of students in grades 3 to 8 attend districts that recovered in both subjects.
Missing school became a habit
A student is chronically absent when they miss about 10% of the school year. The share of chronically absent students nearly doubled after schools reopened, and it is still far above pre-pandemic levels. The Scorecard researchers found that high absence is slowing recovery, especially in high-poverty districts.
What you can do now
- Ask your child's school for their latest state test and benchmark results, and how they compare with grade level.
- Ask what extra help the school offers, such as tutoring or added reading and math time, and how many hours a week your child would get.
- Check your child's attendance record. Missing two days a month adds up to chronic absence over a school year.
- If your child is behind, ask for a written plan with a date to check progress.
- Share this record with other parents, teachers and school board members.
Related
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