You Vote: How badly have COVID-19 remote learning directives hurt student academic achievement?

Test scores in elementary school math and reading have plunged to levels not seen in decades, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the "Nation's Report Card."

The assessment, administered to U.S. students who were nine years old, is the first nationally representative report comparing student achievement from just before the COVID-19 pandemic to performance two years later.

Reading scores dropped to their lowest point in more than three decades, and math scores declined for the first time since the test began in 1971.

"These results are sobering," Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the tests, told the Washington Post. "It's clear that COVID-19 shocked American education and stunted the academic growth of this age group."

"I don't think we can expect to see these nine-year-olds catch up by the time they leave high school," added Dr. Aaron Pallas, professor of Sociology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, in comments to the Wall Street Journal. "This is not something that is going to disappear quickly."

Did school lockdowns during the pandemic set back children's education in a big way? Here's your chance to weigh in: