America's children have continued to lose ground on reading skills in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and have made little improvement in maths, according to the latest results of an exam known as the nation’s report card.

The findings are yet another setback for United States schools and reflect the myriad challenges that have upended education, from pandemic school closures to a youth mental health crisis and high rates of chronic absenteeism. The national exam results also show growing inequality: While the highest-performing students have started to regain lost ground, lower-performing students are falling further behind.