RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) – The pandemic recovery is continuing in classrooms but one of the state’s top education leaders says there’s still plenty of work that needs to be done.

State Board of Education chair Eric Davis was a recent guest on Carolina Newsmakers hosted by Don Curtis. He said student test results are trending in the right direction.

“We’re closing the gap that was created by the pandemic,” said Davis. “And I want to thank our teachers, principals, parents, students and all of those who volunteered to help our students catch up, recover and close that gap that the pandemic created.”

In recent years, there has been an intense focus on measuring student performance with end of grade testing. Davis argued there are better alternatives to encourage student progress.

“It would be much more effective and beneficial to our students and teachers if there was a degree of assessment or testing throughout the year that was used to inform instruction and used to inform the students about the quality of their learning,” Davis added.