In the latest confirmation that extended pandemic-era school closures took a huge toll on a generation of young Oregonians, new federal test results show the state’s middle and elementary students still lag far behind in reading and math.

Grade 4 and grade 8 pupils in multiple U.S. states have reading and math skill below the national average, according to assessment body.

We are not seeing the progress that we need to regain the ground our students lost during the pandemic.” Nationwide, 41% of fourth-grade students and one-third of eighth-grade students don't read at a basic level as defined by the NCES − the worst scores in two decades.