- Easterby ready for long-term contest between Ireland fly-half duo
- Siao Him Fa leads on sombre day at figure skating Europeans
- Shiffrin fifth ahead of second run in bid for 100th World Cup win
- Trump blames 'diversity' for deadly Washington airliner collision
- 'No awkwardness' for Dupont's France with Jegou, Auradou selection
- Lula says if Trump hikes tariffs, Brazil will reciprocate
- Merkel slams successor over far-right support on immigration bill
- PSG sweat on Zaire-Emery fitness for Champions League play-off
- Stock markets firm on ECB rate cut, corporate results
- Russian drone barrage kills eight in east Ukraine
- Mexican economy shrinks for first time in three years
- 'No awkardness' for Dupont's France with Jegou, Auradou selection
- Israel releases Palestinian prisoners after hostages freed
- BBC apologises to staff over Russell Brand sex complaints
- Nostalgia and escapism: highlights from Paris Couture Week
- UK prosecutors defend jail terms of environmental activists
- Qatari emir tells Syria leader 'urgent need' for inclusive government
- British sailor Davies completes Vendee after 80 days at sea
- Dubai airport clocks record 92.3m passengers, extending hot streak
- IOC presidential contenders deliver their vision for sport in post-Bach era
- Stock markets rise on ECB rate cut, healthy corporate results
- Tears of joy for Thai hostages freed in Gaza
- No survivors after helicopter collides with plane over Washington
- Rwanda-backed M23 pledges to 'march all the way to Kinshasa'
- Jonny Gray returns for Scotland against Italy in Six Nations
- Russian drone barrage kills three elderly couples in east Ukraine
- Italy turn to Allan for Six Nations opener against Scotland
- US economic growth steady in 2024 as Trump takes office
- Leipzig sign in-demand Xavi Simons from PSG until 2027
- Israel halts prisoner release after Gaza hostages freed
- Merlier at the double at Al-Ula Tour
- French rapist Dominique Pelicot questioned over 1990s cases
- Gray returns for Scotland against Italy in Six Nations
- El Salvador merchants no longer obliged to accept bitcoin
- 'I'm out of here': French town braces for rising floods
- ECB cuts rate again as eurozone falters, with eye on Trump
- UK unveils 'counter-terror style' police powers to stop migrants
- No survivors from plane, helicopter collision in Washington
- France hands over last base in Chad amid withdrawal
- Six arrested over plot to kidnap French YouTube star
- Doubters 'drive' Morgan's Wales before Six Nations opener in Paris
- Figure skating mourns victims of US plane crash
- Richard Gere to be honoured at Spain's top film awards
- Gerrard leaves Saudi club Al-Ettifaq by mutual agreement
- New-look Champions League produces jeopardy, but giants survive
- Syria, Qatar discuss reconstruction during emir's visit
- France, Germany stall eurozone growth in fourth quarter
- Sri Lanka lose quick three after Australia declare on 654-6
- Fly-half Prendergast starts for Six Nations champions Ireland against England
- DR Congo leader vows 'vigorous' response as Rwanda-backed fighters advance
US test scores remain below pre-Covid, performance gap widens
US student test scores in reading and math remain below pre-pandemic levels as a worrying gap continues to widen between high and low performers, officials said Wednesday.
The biennial tests of American fourth and eighth graders -- correlating roughly to ages nine and 13, respectively -- showed improvements in 2024 for some students, but a steady decline for the lowest 10 percent.
"The most concerning pattern within our distribution is for our lowest performing students," Peggy Carr, head of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), told a press briefing.
She said that while the gap between high and low performers had further split across subjects and ages, eighth grade math scores saw its widest difference since the assessment began.
The tests were administered in early 2024 to some 235,000 fourth graders and 230,000 eighth graders.
The last tests in 2022 sparked alarm, as they showed a significant across-the-board drop in scores from 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic forced most US classes to move online.
The length of pandemic school closures quickly became a heated political debate, and ramifications on student performance continue to cause concern.
Data released Wednesday showed average fourth grade math scores improved marginally in 2024, while the top 25 percent of performers had returned to 2019 levels.
Eighth graders, who would have been in elementary school during the pandemic closures, saw average math scores hold steady below 2019-levels -- but while top performers increased marginally, the bottom 10 percent dropped significantly.
Reading scores fell for both eighth and fourth graders, the latter of whom would have begun school after the height of the pandemic.
"The continued declines since the pandemic suggest we're facing complex challenges that cannot be fully explained by the impact of COVID-19," said NCES associate commissioner Daniel McGrath in a statement.
The proportion of eighth graders failing a benchmark reading test was the highest since figures first were collected in 1992, while only one state out of 50, Louisiana, had better reading performance for primary school students than before the pandemic.
"I think it obviously comes to mind that we should be looking at what social media and the rise of the screen-based childhood is doing for reading habits and reading skills," Martin West, a member of the testing board and Harvard education professor, told the press briefing.
The pandemic schools closures prompted fierce political debate in the United States, with Democrats generally more cautious in ending so-called remote learning, while Republicans sought to quickly return students to in-person classes.
Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate education committee, blasted the former administration of Democratic president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris for the falling scores.
"The most vulnerable children were hurt the most. This will be the failed legacy of the Biden-Harris education policy," he said in a statement.
M.Ouellet--BTB