The Education Recovery Scorecards, a national report on educational progress published Tuesday, showed that Wisconsin students still lag pre-COVID-19 pandemic academic performance by half of a grade level in reading and one-third of a grade level in math, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. Furthermore, Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) students are recovering more slowly than their statewide peers.
The scorecards measure academic recovery in math and reading across 43 states using data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and state test results for about 35 million students. In Wisconsin’s case, Forward Exam data is used.
Overall, Wisconsin ranked No. 16 in math recovery and No. 30 in reading recovery since 2019. Madison students lag 2019 numbers by 72% in reading and 84% in math. Nationally, U.S. students averaged nearly half of a grade level behind pre-pandemic achievement in both subjects, and students have fallen further behind in reading since 2022.
