How much did the pandemic affect students?

The latest research is out, and the answer is clear: dramatically.

In math and reading, students are behind where they would be after a normal year, with the most vulnerable students showing the steepest drops, according to two new reports from the consulting firm McKinsey & Company and the NWEA, a nonprofit organization that provides academic assessments.

The students did not just stall early on; the setbacks accumulated over time — and continued even after many students had returned to the classroom this spring.

The reports echo the outcomes from Texas and Indiana, some of the first states to release test results from the past school year. Both states showed significant declines in reading and math.

The findings paint an alarming picture of an education system plagued by racial and socioeconomic inequities that have only gotten worse during the coronavirus pandemic. An educational gap became a gulf.