New data from the Nation’s Report Card reveal kids suffered more academically in states that closed public schools longer.
New data from the Nation’s Report Card reveal kids suffered more academically in states that closed public schools longer.
T he scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress — also known as the Nation’s Report Card — were released on Monday, showing steep declines in reading and the largest declines in mathematics since the initial assessments over three decades ago.
These staggering drops in academic outcomes were not evenly distributed. At least three independent analyses of the new data indicate that children generally suffered more academically in states that closed public schools longer. Brown University economist Emily Oster said the results were “very consistent with what we’ve seen in state-level data, which suggests that places that had the most in-person learning lost less than the places that had more virtual learning.”
Harvard professor Martin R. West separately analyzed the data and found that “students lost more ground on average where remote instruction was more prevalent,” although he also noted that “the relationship’s strength is relatively weak.” Professor West additionally found that “red states lost 7.2 NAEP scale score points in 8th grade math, on average, while blue states lost 8.8 points.”
The nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., was one of the slowest places to reopen schools in person. Student outcomes in the district declined by about 12 points on the fourth-grade math assessment, a decrease over two and a half times as large as the national average. Iowa, on the other hand, was one of the quickest states to reopen schools in person, and its students declined by less than one point on the same assessment.
The data also indicate that students in public schools that moved to distance learning in 2021 for all or most of their classes scored nine and eleven points lower in eighth-grade and fourth-grade math, respectively, than those in fully in-person schools. These scores were two and nine points lower in eighth-grade and fourth-grade reading, respectively, for students in schools that moved to distance learning in 2021 than for students in fully in-person schools.
Nationally, Catholic schools — which were substantially likelier than public schools to keep their doors open for in-person instruction — fared better academically on each of the four assessments released this week. For example, average fourth-grade math scores dropped five points for public schools since 2019 while remaining unchanged for Catholic schools. Eighth-grade reading scores dropped by three points in public schools but increased by one point for Catholic schools.
Another positive outlier were the Department of Defense schools, which were also more likely to be in person than their traditional public-school counterparts according to some reports. These schools did not lose any points on any of the four assessments.
These aren’t the first data to show that school closures hurt children. Studies from economists at two different Ivy League universities have found that student academic proficiency on state assessments declined more for students who attended public schools remotely than those who attended in person.
Teachers’-union representatives continue to repeat that they don’t want to play the “blame game.” Of course, the unions don’t want to talk about their role in keeping schools closed and hurting kids. That conversation might bring along some accountability. At least six rigorous studies, two of which we conducted, have each found that places with stronger teachers’ unions were less likely to reopen schools in person.
Teachers’ unions fought to keep schools closed at every turn over the past couple of years. They held children’s education hostage to secure multiple multibillion-dollar ransom payments from taxpayers. Even now, some prominent union leaders continue to deny that learning loss occurred.
The government’s failure to prevent learning loss is staggering, and its consequences are still unraveling. Poll after poll shows that parents in both parties are education voters first, and they will be all too happy to “play the blame game” when it comes to their children’s education. In state and local elections, where too many politicians failed our kids, they are ready to send a clear message this midterm.
Corey DeAngelis is a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children. Michael Hartney is a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, an assistant professor of political science at Boston College, and an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute.