From the brief: This brief is a continuation of NWEA’s ongoing research agenda focused on understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected student reading and math outcomes. Here, we build on our previous findings to examine students’ academic progress at the start of the third school year impacted by the pandemic. The goal of this brief is to summarize student achievement and growth trends at the start of the 2021-22 school year so that educators and policymakers are equipped with the evidence necessary to guide decisions and make adjustments where needed as part of COVID-19 recovery efforts.