Duval County students’ fourth-grade test scores fell for both math and reading as part of a national slide blamed on interruptions of in-person schooling caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, data released Monday by the U.S. Education Department showed.

Eighth-grade math performance also dropped while reading improved minutely, essentially holding steady, said data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a standardized measurement sometimes called the nation’s report card.

The losses reflect harm to schooling that has been felt in many corners, but Duval officials took encouragement that local scores fell less than at most large urban school districts.

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