I live in the UK, but a few kids in my family are around this age and we've had similar declines in test scores here too. I'll comment on a few things I've noti

I live in the UK, but a few kids in my family are around this age and we've had similar declines in test scores here too. I'll comment on a few things I've notice - at least as someone from my working class background. Covid lockdowns were brutal for kids of this age bracket. Kids in my family were mostly just locked in doors watching Netflix and playing video games during lockdowns and did next to no physical activity, socialising, or anything mentally simulating. A couple of kids in my family have also developed mental illnesses as a result of lockdowns – and I don't use this word lightly. For kids from my background school is really the only opportunity they get to experience normality. A space free from all the various social issues that plague families from this socioeconomic background. To be more specific here, one kid ended up becoming extremely anti-social during the lockdowns since violence is normal and common within his household. The other has develop extreme social anxiety and depression and now refuses to attend school. I'm sure other kids have developed post-Covid anxiety, but those kids probably have parents that care enough about their children to ensure they attend school. Obviously if they had better parents this stuff probably wouldn't have happened, but school is so important for people of my background. It's the only place in their life where order and discipline will be enforced. It's also the only place they get to socialise with normal people who are not criminals or drug users. And the only place they'll get to feel safe. I have no idea how much of this decline in tests scores is related to the pandemic, but if other kids took the pandemic as bad the kids in my family then I'm not surprised by this at all.