Alabama student test scores take a hit blamed on COVID-19.

Alabama educators have long wondered if virtual classes due to COVID-19 would impact how students learn. There’s evidence this concern is right. Preliminary test scores for Alabama students show an expected drop after COVID interrupted classes. State education officials say the average ACT score for eleventh graders this year was seventeen point two. That’s down from eighteen point two the year before. Nearly sixty percent of second graders were not considered proficient in English. State education officials briefed school board members on the preliminary results from the latest standardized tests this week. Superintendent Eric Mackey said the drop was expected after the pandemic interrupted classes.