Reading scores for elementary school students plunged to their lowest levels since 1990 during the first two years of the pandemic — and math scores dropped for the first time in the history of a nationally representative test dating back to the 1970s.

Why it matters: The national test results out Thursday lay out the extent to which the pandemic devastated learning outcomes for America's students, particularly for those that were most vulnerable even before the pandemic.

Elementary school students’ math and reading scores plummeted to the lowest level in decades amid the school shutdowns implemented in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, national test results released Thursday show.

Math and reading scores for 9-year-olds in the US fell between 2020 and 2022 by a level not seen in decades, a foreboding sign of the state of American education two years after the Covid-19 pandemic began.

The results were part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress long-term trend reading and math exams, often called the "Nation's Report Card," conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. The exams were administered to age-9 students in early 2020 before the pandemic and then again in early 2022, the group said.

A new survey has found that more than half of parents are concerned that their children have fallen behind as a result of remote learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the poll – which was released by USA Today and Ipsos last week – 55% of parents "believe online learning caused their children to fall behind in school." That’s up from May 2020, when 46% of parents felt the same way. 

New York City public schools "will be back in their classroom in September, all in-person, no remote," Mayor Bill de Blasio told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Monday.

Why it matters: Some 1 million students in the country's largest public school district will return to class for five days a week in the city that was once the epicenter of the pandemic, where de Blasio now says "COVID is plummeting."

One exciting thing about being alive at this pivotal moment in history is that I’m constantly learning about strong opinions I didn’t previously know I had. Before mid-March 2020, if you’d asked me how I felt about videoconferencing, I’d have shrugged. It’s fine? Now I would have to amend that opinion slightly. It’s not fine. It’s horrible, a form of psychic torture, and I hate it so deeply that my hatred feels physical, like an allergic reaction.

If you want to handicap a man for the rest of his life, deny him an education. This is manifestly true in America, as the disadvantages associated with a poor education tend to multiply in a free society and a free economy. It is our dedication to free markets that created a standard of living higher than has ever been observed for such a large and diverse group of people in history. This is all the more true for educated Americans, who currently enjoy rising wages, low unemployment and unprecedented opportunity for mobility and growth.

Another area school district, South Whittier School District, will begin its school year with distance learning.

Following the directives of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles County Public Health Department, South Whitttier officials in a Wednesday town hall meeting said their plan is to begin distance learning with the intention to move to a hybrid model.

School will begin Aug. 13.

In a statement, Superintendent Gary Gonzales said the district has purchased additional programs to add to their distance learning to increase educational rigor.

Though election news will dominate the headlines all summer, the global pandemic has thrown into question everything from how the candidates will campaign to whether there will be live conventions to how we’ll vote in November.

Whether your students will be in school in the fall, learning at home or experiencing some kind of hybrid, we have ideas for how they can get involved now and stay involved until November — and, perhaps, cope with feelings of helplessness during this crisis as they do.