> Around 2013, this progress began to stall out, and then to backslide dramatically. What exactly went wrong? The decline began well before the pandemic, so COV

> Around 2013, this progress began to stall out, and then to backslide dramatically. What exactly went wrong? The decline began well before the pandemic, so COVID-era disruptions alone cannot explain it. There is actually no change in reading scores before covid if you adjust for demographic change in the student population: https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ltt/reading/student-group-scores/?age=9 https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ltt/reading/student-group-.... Scores for white, black, and hispanic students went up consistently from 2000-2012 then stayed flat until 2020. The drop came only after covid.