US students' reading, math scores lowest in decades

The mathematics and reading abilities of 13-year-olds in America today are the poorest in decades, according to a report released Wednesday.

The last time math performance was this low for 13-year-olds was in 1990. In reading, it was in 2004, according to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), dubbed "the nation's report card''.

The lowest-performing students experienced a larger decline. For them, math scores have regressed to levels in 1978, and reading scores have declined to levels seen before 1971, according NAEP, the federal standardized test.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the statistical center of the US Department of Education, collected the NAEP's new data from October to December of the 2022-23 school year. The assessments were made for about 8,700 students at about 460 schools nationwide.

The 13-year-olds scored an average of 256 out of 500 in reading, and 271 out of 500 in math, down from average scores of 260 in reading and 280 in math three years ago.

The average scores for 13-year-old students declined by four points in reading and nine points in mathematics compared to the previous academic year, the tests result reveal. Compared to a decade ago, there has been a decline of 7 points in average reading scores and 14 points in average mathematics scores.

The latest data underscore the ongoing setbacks for American students caused by the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, which included remote learning, and show no signs of academic recovery.

More than two years after students went back to in-person study, "we continue to see worrisome signs about student achievement and well-being", NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr said in a press release.

"The 'green shoots' of academic recovery that we had hoped to see have not materialized," she said.

"The bottom line — these results show that there are troubling gaps in the basic skills of these students," said Carr. "This is a huge-scale challenge that faces the nation."

"We are observing steep drops in achievement, troubling shifts in reading habits and other factors that affect achievement and rising mental health challenges alongside alarming changes in school climate," Carr said.

While scores declined across all racial and ethnic groups, among both male and female students, as well as in urban, suburban and rural areas, the lowest-performing students experienced particularly significant decreases.

Students across all achievement levels experienced declines, with stronger students witnessing slides of six to eight points, while lower-performing students saw decreases of 12 to 14 points, the results show.

The most significant drops were observed among Native American students, who experienced a decline of 20 points, followed by black students with a decline of 13 points. White students had a decline of six points, while Asian students maintained their scores.

Fewer students than ever say they are reading for fun every day, the report says. About 14 percent of students reported engaging in daily reading for fun, down from 27 percent reported in 2012. And the proportion of students who claimed to never or rarely read for fun increased to almost one-third, up from 22 percent in 2012.

Students' scores hae been declining before the pandemic and were further exacerbated during it.

Most states witnessed substantial drops in scores among fourth and eighth graders in math and reading between 2019 and 2022, with the largest score declines in math ever recorded by students, according to data from NAEP.

"Prior to 2012, we had seen noticeable improvements in mathematics achievement and some improvement in reading achievement since the 1970s," NCES acting Associate Commissioner Dan McGrath said in the press release. "Scores for 13-year-olds declined for the first time in both subjects between 2012 and 2020, beginning a downward trajectory that has lasted for more than a decade, and has not been reversed."

The federal government in 2021 released historic sums of pandemic funding to the nation's schools, allowing many to expand tutoring, summer classes and other recovery efforts.

The report also revealed that students missing five or more days of school monthly has doubled since 2020. Students with fewer missed school days generally had higher average scores than students with more missed school days, the report says.

"Middle school is a critical time for students — a time when they are maturing academically as well as socially and emotionally. What happens for students in middle school can strongly influence their path through high school and beyond," McGrath said.