, which relies largely on recent findings from outside research groups and the federal government, warns that on just about every indicator that matters 鈥� basic skills, college going, mental health and more 鈥� the pandemic has set older students back.

鈥淭ime is running out for these kids,鈥� said Robin Lake, director of , a research organization at Arizona State University. 鈥淢any have already exited the K-12 system, either by graduating or essentially disappearing on us. Too many kids still are missing 鈥� we don’t know if they’ve dropped out or where they’ve gone.鈥�

Outside researchers who study these students said the fears are justified. In response, Lake and others are proposing a raft of reforms, including extending 鈥済ap years鈥� to any high school graduates who need time to catch up 鈥� as well as a new commitment to reforming high school so it works for more students. 

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona acknowledged the slow pace of academic turnaround, calling it “appalling and unacceptable.”

“It’s like as a country we’ve normalized those gaps,” he said in separate remarks to reporters Tuesday,

Cardona spoke just before the department unveiled new efforts to spur pandemic recovery, including $50 million in competitive grants for literacy and higher expectations on districts to track and reverse chronic absenteeism. The department also released new data showing that roughly 187,000 tutors and mentors have signed up through its National Partnership for Student Success 鈥� bringing it closer to its goal of recruiting 250,000 adults to help students get back on track by 2025.

鈥業nsidious and hidden鈥�

As of this fall, researchers said, about 13.5 million students in four high school graduating classes have been affected by the pandemic.

CRPE first issued its 鈥淪tate of the American Student鈥� report in September 2022, saying pandemic school closures in 2020 and 2021 led to 鈥渦nprecedented academic setbacks鈥� for American students that made pre-existing inequalities and the nation鈥檚 youth mental health crisis worse.

A year later, CRPE says, students are still struggling in many areas. They point to record-low math and reading scores on the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress for fourth- and eighth-grade students 鈥� in both grades, one in three can鈥檛 read at even the 鈥渂asic鈥� achievement level.

And missed more than 10% of school days during the 2021-22 school year, twice as many as in previous years. More than reported 鈥渟tunted behavioral and social-emotional development鈥� in students because of the pandemic, researchers note.

But they say schools should pay extra attention to older students, many of whom lost critical instruction time during the pandemic. 

The pandemic, Lake said, 鈥渋s continuing to derail learning throughout K-12. But what we came away with was that the derailment is looking a little bit more insidious and hidden, in some ways. That is true especially for older students.鈥�

The , for instance, needs 7.4 months of schooling to catch up to pre-pandemic levels in reading, and 9.1 months of schooling in math, according to recent assessments.

Last year鈥檚 NAEP scores showed that 30% of eighth graders performed 鈥溾�� in reading; 38% were in math. At the same time, just 2% of students received at school, which Lake called 鈥渁 massive missed opportunity.鈥� 

In a few places, researchers noted, the pandemic knocked older students off track, as in Washington state, where 14 percent of public high school students received at least during the 2020-2021 school year.

Even college-bound high school students are underperforming: The on the ACT college admission test last year was 19.8, they noted, the lowest since 1991.

Researchers also noted that, overall, college going is down: Between 2019 and 2023, the U.S. higher education system lost an estimated .

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday in advance of the report鈥檚 release, Lake said recent data on college are 鈥渆xtremely concerning.鈥�

She called for the development of what she calls a 鈥淣ew American High School鈥� that abandons academic tracking and standardized diplomas for a system that helps each student 鈥渦nderstand their own conception of a good life鈥� through knowledge and skills. It would also help them more easily change course if needed.

In the report, Lake noted several promising new models, including Colorado鈥檚 , designed to help rural districts create career-relevant learning experiences aligned to the needs and aspirations of local economies.

She also highlighted Seckinger High School in Gwinnett County, Georgia, a planned artificial intelligence-themed high school that will offer a college prep curriculum 鈥渢aught through the lens of artificial intelligence.鈥� Students will also be able to pursue an education in developing AI, she said. 

A gap year for struggling students

Lake proposed that high schools and community colleges consider a new kind of post-high school 鈥済ap year鈥� designed to help struggling high school graduates get back on track academically and prepare for college and careers. 

鈥�Gap years are oftentimes known for serving as a time for exploration for more advantaged kids,鈥� she said. 鈥淟et’s change that.鈥�

The idea is still in development, she said, but could be developed quickly.

鈥淲e don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but we need to get going,鈥� she said.

While high school graduation rates are rising, the researchers said, so is grade inflation 鈥� 90% of parents believe their child is actually above grade level in reading and math, according to a March 2023 , making it likely that many students are exiting the K-12 system unprepared for college and careers.

Outside experts who study education systems and secondary education said CRPE鈥檚 alarm over the data is justified.

鈥淭here’s going to be a long tail of the pandemic,鈥� said Robert Balfanz, a scholar who studies high school as co-director of the at Johns Hopkins University.

He said a key problem from the pandemic is that many students were forced into virtual learning at key points in their education: while making the leap to more challenging reading, for instance, or diving into Algebra or calculus. 鈥淜ids that miss core transitional learning, I think, are almost hit twice,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey have that same amount of learning loss. But you could argue in some ways it was even more strategic of a loss because those are such key building blocks.鈥�

He noted that the best predictor of whether a student will earn a college degree is if they earned 鈥渄ecent grades in challenging courses.鈥� But if they don鈥檛 get access to these or don鈥檛 learn foundational material, 鈥渢hat’s a problem.鈥�

Unequal access to such coursework, Balfanz said, can push students out of advanced classes.聽

He is concerned that during the pandemic, many students who 鈥渙fficially took calculus鈥� or other advanced courses virtually may not have gotten all of the material required. 鈥淎nd those kids are probably already in college.鈥�

In the paper, researchers lamented that our K-12 system 鈥渓eaves to chance鈥� nearly every aspect of the transition from high school to college and careers, from students discovering their interests and talents to selecting a career pathway aligned to them. 

And few students ever get guidance on how to change careers and find new training or postsecondary opportunities when their interests and priorities shift.

Balfanz said the decline in 鈥減ostsecondary momentum鈥� could be the result of many factors, including the high cost of college, students who don鈥檛 feel well-prepared and a labor market that holds many opportunities for high wages without a college degree.

鈥淚 think a combination of those factors is going to push some kids to delay post-secondary,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd the more you delay it, the odds of success are less.鈥�

Trying to go back to school at that point, he said, is 鈥渁lways challenging.鈥� 

A new kind of report card

Dan Goldhaber, director of the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research () at the American Institutes for Research, said COVID recovery 鈥渉as not fully happened鈥� in many schools.聽

鈥淚’m not feeling super optimistic about pandemic recovery writ large right now,鈥� he said. 

The new CRPE report, he said, demonstrates the 鈥渞eal conundrum鈥� that schools face in communicating with parents: 鈥淚 think that schools need to convey in more plain English where kids are at,鈥� he said. 

But he said results from large-scale standardized exams 鈥渄on’t resonate the way that information about their own students would resonate. What we need is for school systems to just be really clear with individual families about when their students are struggling. And I don’t think that school systems typically do that.鈥�

Educators, he said, are typically optimistic about students鈥� chances of bouncing back 鈥� and fearful of being blamed for kids鈥� academic problems. 

鈥淪chools don’t have a ton of incentive to communicate in ways that might negatively bounce back to them,鈥� he said.

Lake, the CRPE director, said one good way to fix this problem is simply to rethink report cards.

鈥淧arents look to report cards first,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd report cards need to be able to say how the kids are actually doing 鈥� not just that they’re getting a particular grade. Are they mastering the skills that they need to graduate? Are they on track? And so that’s where I’d focus my efforts.鈥�

Linda Jacobson contributed to this report.