Test scores took a nosedive immediately following the pandemic. However, according to NWEA academics are recovering.

The non-profit NWEA, nest known for administering the MAP test, released its analysis of test data. According to the brief students are rebounding in reading and math:

“Math and reading achievement remained significantly lower in fall 2022 compared to prepandemic levels; however, compared to prior timepoints, we continued to see improvements (i.e., the magnitude of the gaps between the COVID and pre-COVID samples are shrinking) across subjects and cohorts” the brief read. “Shrinking achievement gaps between spring 2022 and fall 2022 may seem contradictory with the pattern of score declines we observed during summer 2022. However, given students in the COVID sample lost less ground over summer 2022 compared to the pre-COVID sample, the gap between these groups continued to shrink.”

This is good news, but the brief also cautions that students are still a ways away from where they need to be:

“Even with continued rebounding, student achievement remains lower than in a typical year and full recovery is likely still several years away.”

The rebound is not uniform across the board and some student populations are in worse shape than others. Today’s third-graders, which were kindergarteners when the COVID-19 pandemic started have the “largest reading achievement gap” and thus far have rebounded the least.

Read the full brief here.