New data shows early‑grade reading remains below pre‑pandemic levels, with first‑ and second‑graders lagging as math rises.

In early 2026, a small group of first-grade students at Lucy Wortham James Elementary School in St. James, Missouri, sat together sounding out words. Kim Williams, the school’s principal, watched as ...

Young students are still struggling to bounce back academically from the pandemic, even though many were babies at the time.

Although most of them were still in diapers when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, today’s early elementary students didn’t make it through the global catastrophe unscathed. A new analysis from NWEA, an ...

Incoming first-graders offered advice to students starting first grade this year. Many students said they were nervous on their first day but made friends quickly. Reading, math and making friends ...