Reading scores for young kids lag years after pandemic: Research

New research shows students who were not school age during the COVID-19 pandemic are struggling to catch up in reading despite avoiding the classroom disruptions older students experienced. 

NWEA, a nonprofit education research group, released a report this week looking at current students in grades kindergarten through second, who were babies or in daycare during the pandemic.  

Comparing spring 2017 to spring 2025 test scores, first and second graders last year lagged behind in both subjects. Math had modest improvement since the pandemic, while reading stalled and showed small evidence of reaching pre-pandemic levels. 

“It is important that we understand the depth and persistence of unfinished learning from the pandemic’s disruptions, but we must also focus our lens beyond the COVID-19 years,” said Megan Kuhfeld, director of data analytics and growth modeling at NWEA. 

“While these youngest elementary students were just infants and toddlers when COVID-19 hit, this stagnation in reading and uneven recovery in math is an indicator of something bigger impacting our education system that extends beyond one cohort or a moment in time,” she added. 

The drop in reading scores among all students from COVID-19 has been hard for researchers to pinpoint, with some speculating the drop in reading at home contributing to the issue. While young kids weren’t in school for the classroom disruptions, their socialization was stalled due to parks and other activities closing during the pandemic.

NWEA is recommending educators look at what system-level difficulties could be contributing to lagging reading scores and how recovery efforts need to target those who weren’t old enough for school during the pandemic.  

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