VIDEO: Pandemic learning gap study

(NBC) - New testing data shows more students are lagging far below grade level compared to pre-pandemic levels.

New data suggests the pandemic may have widened the achievement gap in American classrooms.

An analysis of data from testing firm NWEA found that in a pool of 3.8 million 3rd to 8th graders there was a larger spread in achievement levels this Spring compared to the Spring of 2019.

In reading, the spread of student achievement levels was 4 to 8 percent wider than before the pandemic.

The differences were even more pronounced in math.

Especially in grades three to five where the range of student scores was 5 to 10 percent wider than three years ago.