Math Scores Around The US Plunge As Students Suffer From Learning Loss

U.S. students are lagging behind other industrialized students in math in a global assessment released Tuesday, according to Axios.

Students in the U.S. saw a 13-point fall in their 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) score compared to their 2018 results, according to Axios. The score was “among the lowest ever measured by PISA in mathematics” and comes as U.S. students are suffering learning loss following the pandemic.

Almost 70% of students in the U.S. attended schools that experienced chronic absenteeism during the 2021-2022 school year. K-12 reading scores took their biggest drop ever and math scores declined for the first time in 2022.

Students suffering from chronic absenteeism are suffering the worst outcomes.

U.S. students scored a single point below their 2018 reading score and 3 points lower than their 2018 science score, though both were higher than their scores in 2012, according to Axios.

ISA examines the proficiency of 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics and science worldwide, according to Axios.

This is the first PISA to take place since the pandemic and compares the exam results of almost 700,000 students from 81 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member states, according to Axios. PISA is run by the OECD and first administered in 2000 and is conducted every three years.

Of the countries measured, 31 maintained or improved their 2018 math scores, according to Axios. Countries with shorter school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic scored higher.