The report found that while the Carolinas slowly recover after COVID-19, there are some pockets of success.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The average U.S. student remains nearly half a grade level behind pre-pandemic achievement in both math and reading, according to the latest Education Recovery Scorecard released Tuesday.
The annual report provides the first high-resolution picture of where students’ academic recovery stood in the spring of 2024, just before federal relief dollars expired in September.
“Unless state and local leaders step up now, the achievement losses will be the longest lasting– and most inequitable– legacy of the pandemic,” Professor Tom Kane, faculty director of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard said.
North Carolina is making slow progress to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state ranks 26th nationally in math recovery and 43rd in reading recovery between 2019 and 2024, according to the report. However, students remain below 2019 achievement levels by 0.46 grade equivalents in math and 0.75 grade equivalents in reading.
At a district level, the report found that 97% of students are in districts below 2019 reading levels, with 82% of students in districts below 2019 math achievement levels. Gaston, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, and Harnett districts still face significant challenges, remaining nearly one full grade level below 2019 math achievement.
In a statement Tuesday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools acknowledged the finding of the study while reaffirming the district’s commitment to student success.
“Although we have made strides in math, we recognize the continued need to invest in literacy initiatives and combat chronic absenteeism,” CMS Superintendent Crystal Hill said. “We cannot do this work alone, so we are calling on community leaders, policymakers, and families to work alongside us in ensuring every child has the resources to succeed.”
A bright spot in the Tar Heel State was found in both Johnston and Wake counties. The report found Johnston County has achieved full recovery, exceeding 2019 levels in both subjects. Wake County has recovered above 2019 levels in math.
South Carolina has seen some success in its recovery efforts. The state ranks 7th nationally in math recovery and 10th in reading recovery between 2019 and 2024, according to the report. However, students remain below 2019 achievement levels by 0.28 grade equivalents in math and 0.32 grade equivalents in reading statewide.
A bright spot in the Palmetto State is Lancaster County. The mean achievement for students in Lancaster has fully recovered to 2019 levels in both reading and math.
Both North Carolina and South Carolina have seen a surge in chronic absenteeism. More than one in four students (27%) were chronically absent in North Carolina, up from (16%) in 2019. In South Carolina, 22% of students were chronically absent, up from 13% before the pandemic.
Funding to further close the achievement gaps is now gone, with federal pandemic relief dried up. North Carolina received $5.6 billion in federal pandemic relief, enough for $3,600 per student. South Carolina received $3.3 billion in federal relief, good for $4,200 per student. The national average per student was $3,700, according to the report.
“The rescue phase is over,” Kane said. “The federal relief dollars are gone. It is time to pivot from short-term recovery to longer-term challenges such as reducing absenteeism and addressing the slide in literacy.”
The Education Recovery Scorecard is a collaboration between the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University, and faculty at Dartmouth College. The report provides a better look at academic recovery in 8,719 school districts with either math or reading achievement data across 43 states.
