Wisconsin students have struggled to recover since the pandemic, leaving the state ranked toward the bottom for academic growth in math and reading, a new report says.
The state ranks 33rd out of 38 states in math and 30th out of 35 states in reading, according to the Education Scorecard. The report, released annually, is a collaboration between the Harvard University, Stanford University and Dartmouth College.
There are no findings for Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Vermont due to data limitations, the report says.
The report describes a “learning recession” in the United States that began years before the pandemic in 2013, when math and reading scores stalled and then began to decline.
What does the report say about Wisconsin schools?
The report included mixed news for Wisconsin schools.
Chronic absenteeism, defined as missing more than 10% of classes, dropped from 22% in 2022 to 17% in 2025, but remains higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Wisconsin students are performing better at math than in 2022, but are 0.35 grade levels behind their peers from 2019. Students are reading 0.24 grade levels below 2022 levels and are about half a grade level behind 2019 numbers.
The Sun Prairie Area, Oshkosh Area and West Allis-West Milwaukee school districts are a full grade level behind 2019 math scores, the report says. Meanwhile, Kenosha, Green Bay Area and Sheboygan Area districts are a full grade level behind 2019 reading scores.
But Fond du Lac, Cedarburg, and Waukesha are above average in math and reading, and Racine is emerging as a leader in reading. Hamilton, Elmbrook and Verona Area students are excelling in math.
Fond du Lac School District was included among the report’s “districts on the rise,” standing out with scores in math and reading that are better than average. The district has “shifted the role of the principal from a building manager to a true instructional leader,” said Superintendent Matt Steinbarth in the news release.
Are students recovering from the pandemic?
The report said the pandemic-era learning recovery was “U” shaped, with the richest and poorest districts making significant gains while middle-income districts fall behind.
The report defines a middle-income district as having 30% to 70% of students receiving subsidized school lunches.
The report said math scores started to rebound in 2022, but reading scores lagged behind. Last year was the first sign of a reading recovery.
What does the report say schools can do to improve?
The report makes four recommendations:
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin lags behind in post-pandemic learning recovery. Here’s why
Reporting by Blaise Mesa, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
