Reading Achievement and the Long Tail of the Pandemic

Tim Shanahan

The latest reading test results should be troubling to all.

I’m reacting to the PISA results that were recently issued (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2026). PISA – Programme for International Student Assessment – is the test used to compare nations in academic performance. These reading, math, and science results were from a 2025 test administered in 91 countries.

Usually, our concerns about PISA scores have had to do with how many countries have passed us this time in the reading ability of their 15-year-olds. Not this time. No, this year we held service – no new nations outdid us.

But only because almost everyone declined in reading this time around.

It appears to me that this nearly universal drop is mainly because of the 2020 pandemic. The first shock of the pandemic deprived most kids out of face-to-face teaching for a year or two. That certainly trimmed their reading sails.

But the aftershock of this kind of thing can be almost as humbling. Historical analyses of pandemics reveal that they leave in their wake a tsunami of antisocial and asocial behavior. That’s why we experienced increased crime rates that have only recently begun to come down in most places.

The asocial effects seem to be lingering longer. The schools of many countries have been experiencing the same chronic absenteeism rife in the United States. Many kids never returned to school after COVID and large numbers of those who did have spotty attendance (Barragan Torres, 2025; U.S. Department of Education, 2025).  

Time matters when it comes to learning. Fewer days, fewer hours, fewer lessons means lesser gains in academic achievement (Carroll, 1989; Fisher, Berliner, Filby, Marliave, Cahen, & Dishaw, 1981; Gay, Sonnenschein, Sun, & Baker, 2021; Smith, Lee, & Newmann, 2001; Walberg, Fraser, & Welch, 1986). 

The PISA report itself emphasizes an unfortunate decline in classroom discipline across the world since COVID. There is more misbehavior these days which reduces the amounts of instruction even for those kids who manage to show up.

PISA surveyed students and found them to be less curious about their world and to have less perseverance when it comes to learning. The kids admit that they often don’t complete school assignments because they find them boring. A contributor to the lower scores was the increased number of kids who rushed through the test items rather than trying to get them right.

Of course, kids aren’t the only ones who’ve been affected by the pandemic. Teachers and parents have too. Teacher absenteeism is up which is another real loss to kids (Miller, Murname, & Willett, 2007; National Council of Teacher Quality, 2014).  

I suspect parent’s educational resolve has weakened during these past few years. That’s at least part of the reason for the higher absenteeism.

“Mom, I don’t want to go to school today.”

“Okay.”

The student surveys indicate that less homework is being completed. Parents who in the past might have been firmer in discouraging screen time and promoting reading and homework now puzzles over whether it’s worth the trouble.

There’s more to it, of course. 

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