As parents, communities, educators, and policymakers continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student learning in America, many have turned to recently released results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP measures what students know and what they can do in several tested subjects, including reading, mathematics, and science. Large urban school districts often use NAEP to understand their performance and progress in relation to the nation as a whole. The purpose of this brief is to understand differences in student performance between large cities and students nationally over the last 20 years, from 2002 through 2022, as well as after the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. In looking longitudinally, the authors find that the gap between student performance in large cities and students nationally has been steadily shrinking in most tested subject and grade level combinations, demonstrating growth and progress in urban schooling over the last 20 years. The most recent NAEP results also tell a compelling story of resilience despite challenges that state and local education agencies faced while navigating the complexities of a global public health emergency. Results from the most recently released urban districts' spring 2023 state assessments provide additional positive signs of student recovery and growth in both reading and mathematics.