The newest test data from NWEA MAP show several unmistakably positive signs of academic recovery from post-Covid lows. But they must be understood in context—between subjects, across grade levels, and among different groups of students—because not all the signs are good and much work remains to be done before pandemic education disruptions are fully remediated.
The latest trend analysis of MAP Growth assessment data extends through spring 2026 testing in grades K–8 in both reading and math. It includes test results for more than 20 million students attending 30,000 schools across the country. Not a nationally representative sample, but a very broad snapshot of students.
NWEA researchers report three key findings, focusing on one-year trends between spring 2025 and spring 2026. Here they are:
First, after a long period of post-Covid stagnation in reading test scores, MAP Growth reading data showed sizable improvements between 2025 and 2026 from kindergarten to eighth grade. In just that one year, about 15–33 percent of the remaining pandemic reading gap[1] was erased for those grade levels. The largest reading improvement was seen among eighth graders, as was also true in 2025. Kindergarten scores, which never showed the same steep post-Covid declines as other grades, continued a steady upward trend, landing at 0.05 standard deviations (SD) above their prepandemic mean as of spring 2026.
Second, historically underserved groups—such as Black and Hispanic students, as well as those attending high-poverty schools—showed some of the largest reading gains from 2025 to 2026. For example, the gap between Hispanic fifth graders and their White peers narrowed from -0.47 SDs in spring 2025 to -0.38 SDs in spring 2026, the most sizable improvement since 2021. Co-author Megan Kuhfeld also noted, in an Education Week piece covering the trend report, that reading scores for the lowest-performing students, those at the 10th percentile, improved as well.
Third, although math achievement in kindergarten through fifth grade continued to show incremental progress toward recovery, the middle-school grades have stagnated after several years of small but steady increases.
While highlighting the good news, the report does not hide the concerning data. Covid-era learning loss remains substantial in most grades. Other than the bright spot of kindergarten reading, test scores remain below prepandemic levels, and achievement gaps by race, ethnicity, and school poverty level are wide and persistent. The NWEA authors are also concerned that any positive news might encourage teachers and policymakers to take their foot off the gas rather than pushing forward with all of the interventions and supports that have been implemented in service of recovery. “The 2026 results are a promising sign that recovery is possible,” they conclude, “but continued progress will likely depend on whether states and districts can move from short-term rebound to durable, systemwide improvement.”
SOURCE: Megan Kuhfeld and Karyn Lewis, “Turning a corner in reading: MAP Growth data shows reading improvements after period of post-COVID stagnation,” NWEA Research (September 2026).
[1] Per the NWEA report: “Percent recovery was calculated by dividing the difference in effect size between 2025 and 2026 by the size of the pandemic reading gap in 2025.”
