As the school year comes to a close, a new analysis shines a harsh spotlight on what's being called a "learning recession" among American students. It's a problem that started long before the pandemic, according to the latest National Education Scorecard — an annual deep dive into data about kids in grades K-12. The findings of this report are sobering. Children had a steady decline in math and reading scores beginning all the way back to 2013, which happens to be when smartphones and social media really took off. Compared to a decade ago, math scores today are down in 70% of school districts. Reading scores are down in 83%. Scores have climbed a bit since 2022, but nowhere close to making up all the lost ground. In fact, 8th grade reading scores are now at their lowest level since 1990. @wmbrangham recently spoke with Thomas Kane, one of the authors of the scorecard and a professor at Harvard University.