First State Times

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test score results were released demonstrating an overall decline in student achievement in the areas of math and reading nationwide. The data shows states with less restrictive COVID-19 measures scored significantly higher than those states with strict COVID regulations and mandates. 

Delaware ranked last in fourth grade math and second-to-last in eighth grade math. Washington, D.C.'s scores saw a 130.9% decrease in differential compared to the top five least restrictive states. D.C. and Delaware were ranked as the most restrictive states under COVID (just behind Vermont). There was an increase in the learning gap between white students and minority students. Critics claim state leaders who pursued lockdowns and mandates hurt students in the classroom by extended remote learning processes, mask mandates and prolonged school reopenings which led to nationwide poor test score results.

“There is no doubt that the lockdowns made our children suffer in many ways, most of which are immeasurable,” founder and executive director of St. Isidore Artisan Academy Steven Jonathan Rummelsburg said. “To catch a measurable glimpse of some of the damage caused to our children by the lockdowns and restrictions is to look at their test scores in reading and math. In general, our test scores have declined, and we have fallen further behind other countries. Perhaps more importantly, we can see when we compare the more restrictive states to the less restrictive states, those children in the less restrictive states fared better on test scores than the most restrictive states.” 

Rummelsburg has been a public and private school teacher for over 30 years and is also a mentor teacher for teachers in California and Massachusetts. He is also a senior fellow at the American Principles Project (APP).

According to Wallet Hub, the top five least-restrictive states on COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates were Iowa, Florida, Wyoming, South Dakota and Texas. The top five most restrictive states were Washington, Virginia, Delaware, Washington, D.C. and Vermont. California and New York were also ranked in the top 10 most restrictive states. The data measured changes to state social distancing guidelines, requirement to wear a mask, travel restrictions, large gathering restrictions, school restart timing, bar and restaurant re-openings, health checks at bars and restaurants, reopening of non-essential businesses, legislation on business immunity claims, remote work requirements, temperature screenings, strictness of "shelter in place" order, presence of multi-state agreements to reopen and guidance for assisted living, compiled by a list of academic and economic experts. 

The Nation’s Report Card released the data on student test scores for 2022. The test scores were taken from samples of fourth and eighth graders from all 50 states and 26 of the largest school districts from January to March of this year. The NAEP test is given every two years. All states saw a decrease in math and reading. The top five most restrictive states (Vermont, D.C., Delaware, Virginia and Washington), which implemented strict COVID lockdowns and mandates for longer periods of time, had significantly lower scores than less restrictive states (Iowa, Florida, South Dakota, Wyoming and Texas), according to the Nation’s Report Card data. 

The National Public Average (NP), rated on a 1-500 scale, “summarizes the overall level of performance attained by that student” and can be compared between states and other countries. A deviation from the NP +/- 3 makes it significantly higher or significantly lower based on data review. Achievement levels are “performance standards that describe what students should know and be able to do” determined by the National Assessment Governing Board. The statistical significance level is set at 0.05, with scores found to be significantly higher or significantly lower based on this differential. This is used as the margin of significance measured at five one-hundredths of a point to give some clarity to the number scores. NAEP’s website states, “a scale score that is significantly higher or lower in comparison to an earlier assessment year is reliable evidence that student performance has changed.”

In Washington, D.C., students’ math scores were significantly lower than the NP number. Students scored 12.21 points below average in fourth grade math, a 307% decrease. D.C. students scored 9.36 points below average in fourth grade reading, 13.61 points below average in eighth grade math and 9.40 points below average in eighth grade reading. In Florida, students scored above average in math and reading, except for a slight -1.93 decrease in eighth grade math. That is a 150% differential between Florida and D.C. in eighth grade math. The top five least restrictive states all scored significantly higher than the top five most restrictive states. The NP for fourth grade math was 235. Iowa scored 240, Florida scored 241, South Dakota scored 239, Wyoming scored 243 and Texas scored 239, all above the average. Vermont scored 234, D.C. scored 223, Delaware scored 226, Virginia scored 236 and Washington scored 235. Four of the five top most restrictive states scored on or below average, with D.C. and Delaware scoring “significantly lower,” according to NAEP’s baseline differential.

Town Square reports that Delaware students saw some of the worst scores in the country. According to Nation’s Report Card data, Delaware’s fourth grade math students dropped 14 points from 2019 to 2022, the largest drop of all 50 states. Britney Mumford, executive director of a local educational advocacy group told Town Square, “In Delaware specifically, our scores were decimated. In both math and science, we were one of few states that fell over 10 points in both categories.” Similarly, eighth graders saw a 12-point decline. Delaware’s Educational Secretary granted the poor scores were due to the pandemic and school closures. Delaware was ranked one of the most restrictive states on COVID lockdowns, school closures and mandates by WalletHub.

Fourth grade math average was -3.8 for the top five most restrictive states, a level characterized by the NAEP as “significantly lower” than the NP 235. The top five least restrictive states’ math level was 4.7 above the national public average, an 223.33% differential (8.5 was the difference from what the NAEP considers to be statistically significant) between most restrictive and least restrictive. Eighth grade math also saw worse scores in the five states that reopened later; a -1.9 point decrease from the NP 273. The top five least restrictive states’ math level for eighth grade was 2.1, a four-point difference, marking it statistically significantly higher. Overall, students’ math scores in fourth and eighth grade from the top five least restrictive states were 219% higher in the differential (6.25 points) than the top five most restrictive states. Similar trends are seen in reading for fourth and eighth grade levels.

According to Reuters, school children’s test scores were historically set back because of the pandemic and remote learning. Math and reading scores dropped the most dramatically, due to the transition to online and remote classes for kids. In the 2020-2021 school year, those that performed better had easy access to a computer and the internet. Minority children saw a large drop in learning, widening the gap between minority students and white students. 

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said, “We must treat the task of catching our children up in reading and math with the urgency this moment demands,” Reuters reports.