BUFFALO, N.Y. — Reading test scores in Buffalo Public Schools dropped by nearly a third during the pandemic, with the youngest students being the hardest hit.
Two years later, there’s been significant, but not complete recovery. However, pupils who were in kindergarten and first grade when the district turned to virtual instruction are still struggling to make up for the learning that was lost, according to testing data.
“It was catastrophic. It was horrible,” Nicole Herkey, a reading specialist at Southside Elementary, said of the pandemic’s effect on students’ reading ability. “It was horrible on so many levels that people who were not in the classroom do not realize.”
The testing data on pupils in kindergarten through fourth grade paint a stark image of how impactful the COVID-19 pandemic was to Buffalo’s youngest learners.