Education Sec. Cardona: Huge Drop in Math, Reading Scores ‘Not Surprising’ with Remote Learning

Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said Thursday on CNN’s “New Day” that the worst drop in math and reading scores in decades is disturbing but not surprising because of remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic.

Anchor Brianna Keilar asked, “There’s a new statistic out, hugely alarming, to parents and really anyone, I think, in our society, this is the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card, and it was released overnight. It showed the worst drop in math and reading scores in decades for fourth-grade students. What is that telling you? Is that a repudiation of remote learning during the pandemic?”

Cardona said, “You know, that is very alarming. It’s disturbing, but it’s not surprising, keeping in mind a year and a half ago, over half of our schools were not open for full-time learning. The first thing we did when we got in is ensure that our schools are open for in-person learning. We went from 47% when the president took office to 100 percent by November. Look, in-person learning is where we need to focus. We need to double down on our efforts. I’m very concerned about those scores, and I know that we have the resources now, and we need to maintain the same level of urgency we had two years ago to get our students back into making sure that our students get support.”

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