Ask any kid if they want a break from learning, and there’s a good chance you’ll hear a textbook thwack shut.

Turns out, about 25 percent of Michigan’s K-8 student did just that last year — they took a break from learning.

Only, this wasn’t a restorative, “finding yourself,” sabbatical-style gap year. This was no summer in Europe, no formative work-study experience.

These kids were still in school, still sitting through lessons, still testing and grinding out homework. They just had zero academic growth to show for it.

Education Policy Innovation Collaborative at Michigan State University reports one out of every four elementary and middle school students in Michigan showed no academic growth this past fall compared to a year earlier.

According to the recent article in Bridge Michigan, the report analyzed benchmark test results for about 80 percent of the state’s 935,000 K-8 students and compared them to fall 2020.

Researchers acknowledged the data was “imperfect,” as the study involved fewer students overall and underrepresented numbers of Black, Latino, economically disadvantaged and English language students.

But it still speaks volumes of the toll COVID-19 took on schools, and the limitations of continuing to measure our kids without its context.

All told, 75 percent of the kids learned something, which is good. Existing achievement gaps amongst racial and socioeconomic groups didn’t grow, which is half good. Not surprisingly, in-person students fared better than virtual across the map. Surprisingly, kids taught by their parents in the first months of the lockdown showed an “at-home advantage” of “unrealistically high average scores in lower grade levels” which also weighed into the comparison.

We’re glad our lawmakers are following this issue carefully — this was the third study of its kind since August 2021.

But the numbers show the need for better numbers. For more context. For the crucial need to move beyond the aggregate and find the indiv- idual students who are struggling and help them.

Because that a quarter of our K-8 students showed up for a year without showing any growth shows we have work to do. Not just to meet pre-pandemic benchmarks, but to reflect — and most importantly, address — a disrupted system.