As the school year is coming to a close, a new analysis shines yet another harsh spotlight

on what's being called a learning recession for America's students. And it's a problem that

started long before the pandemic. That's according to the latest National Education Scorecard,

which is an annual deep dive into data about kids in grades K through 12.

The findings of this report are sobering.

Children had a steady decline in math and reading scores beginning all the way back to 2013,

which happens to be when smartphones and social media really took off.

Compared to a decade ago, math scores today are down in 70% of school districts.

Reading scores are down in 83%.

Scores have climbed a bit since 2022, but nowhere close to making up all the lost ground.

In fact, eighth grade reading scores are now at

their lowest level since 1990. I spoke recently with Thomas Kane. He's one of the authors of the

scorecard and a professor at Harvard University. I started by asking him, what stood out most

about this latest report? So the pandemic was just the mudslide that followed seven years of steady erosion in student

achievement. It was as if, you know, when Congress dismantled test-based accountability

at the end of the No Child Left Behind Act.

It was as if they turned off the smoke alarms just at the time when social media was setting fire to students' learning time outside of school.

There are lots of known issues about K-12 education in America.

But what problems are most pronounced in your view that contribute to these, this really grim

report?

So when I tell my kids that we used to be able to smoke on airplanes, they're incredulous.

And I think when they tell their kids, 20 years from now,

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