At the same time, however, persistently high student absence rates have continued to hamper progress in math in particular, according to the report. In 2024-2025, 23% of students were frequently absent, compared to roughly 15% before the pandemic.
The report contends that academic recovery post-pandemic would have been “meaningfully larger” for all income levels if student absences returned to pre-pandemic rates.
“Absence rates remain high and so students aren’t going to catch up in math if they’re not sitting in classroom seats,” Kane tells TIME.
The more belated rebound in reading scores, meanwhile, has been linked to literacy programs.
The report states that this “incipient recovery in reading appears to be related to state early-literacy reforms” in states including Maryland, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, and the District of Columbia.
“None of the states which had eschewed literacy reforms” as of January 2024 improved in reading between 2022 and 2025, it adds, pointing to Massachusetts, California, Washington, New Hampshire, Georgia, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Hawaii, and South Dakota.