DMV leaders respond to national report showing learning loss in math, reading

A shocking report card on learning loss shows DMV school test scores down along with scores across the country. It's all part of a new national report out Monday showing learning loss is an ongoing casualty of the COVID-19 school shutdowns.

D.C., Maryland and Virginia all saw scores drop among fourth and eighth graders. Math scores saw their most significant decreases ever and reading scores dropped to 1992 levels. Nearly four in 10 eighth graders failed to grasp basic math concepts. 

READ MORE: US math scores drop to lowest levels ever recorded during pandemic, report says

The head of the National Center for Education Statistics Peggy Carr says the pandemic has taken a "profound toll" on learning. 

"In the 50-year history of the assessment, the results showed that we had the first-ever drop in mathematics," says Carr.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan tells FOX 5 it's why he wanted schools reopened.

"It’s why we were fighting against the local school boards who won't open the schools," says Gov. Hogan. "It had a devastating impact on kids being out of school for that long, and it’s going to take a while to dig out from. It didn’t come as a surprise, but it’s just as disappointing."

READ MORE: 1,000 Stafford High School students sick after illness outbreak

The report was also no surprise to many parents.

"Yes, of course, I mean we saw it," says Fairfax County parent Tracy Ann Compton. "I sat there right next to my children during the pandemic when the school district chose to keep my children home and I watched them when they weren’t in school and what they were and were not consuming."

D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee issued a statement on Monday acknowledging the learning loss findings, but saying that DCPS is "maintaining its trajectory."

In Virginia, Governor Glenn Youngkin says the report shows children have "experienced catastrophic learning loss and Virginia's among the hardest hit."