Annual Report: State of Student Learning in 2026

Five years of post-pandemic academic achievement data reveal stable trends in learning, with continued disparities by school and student group. These trends are longstanding and results remain persistently below pre-pandemic learning levels, suggesting indirect effects of the pandemic are lingering or creating barriers to recovery. Given the stability of trends, changes in academic performance now are less reflective of pandemic impacts but may offer signals of other policy or instructional changes that have impacted student outcomes. As the education landscape continues to evolve, it is necessary to examine national trends and target instructional efforts accordingly. This report offers a continued pulse check on academic performance nationwide, with important disaggregation by subgroups, and provides educators and policymakers a clear picture of student performance, so decisions made on students’ behalf are grounded in evidence.