Students are performing worse in reading, mathematics, and science than they did in 2019, with more high school seniors scoring below basic achievement in reading and math than ever before in a national report card.
The historically low testing data come from the National Assessment of Educational Progress administered by the Education Department‘s National Center for Education Statistics in the first three months of 2024. Average science scores for eighth graders in the 2024 exam fell by 4 percentage points compared to the 2019 average, while average mathematics and reading scores fell by 3 points compared to those in 2019.
Acting NCES Commissioner Matthew Soldner called the National Report Card results “sobering.”
“The drop in overall scores coincides with significant declines in achievement among our lowest-performing students, continuing a downward trend that began even before the COVID-19 pandemic,” Soldner said. “Among our nation’s high school seniors, we’re now seeing a larger percentage of students scoring below the NAEP basic achievement level in mathematics and reading than in any previous assessment.”
The average 12th grade reading scores in 2024 were lower than they were in 1992. The average 12th grade mathematics scores in 2024 were lower than they were in 2005.
The NCES points to chronic absenteeism after the COVID-19 pandemic as a contributing factor to the lower testing scores. More than 3 in 10 high school seniors reported missing three or more school days in the prior month in 2024, according to the NCES. Other education experts point to additional contributing factors, such as shorter attention spans and less long-form reading, that can each come as a result of students spending more time on cellphones and other electronic devices.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the report card a “sobering and heartbreaking truth,” saying that over one-third of high school seniors cannot relay the main message of a reading passage.
“Despite billions in federal spending and countless well-intentioned programs, the achievemnt gap between students is widening, not shrinking,” McMahon said. “This trend did not begin with COVID, it goes back a decade. Clearly success isn’t about how much money we spend, but who spends it. That’s why President Trump and I are committed to reversing course and returning control of education to the states.”
Twelfth grade students from 1,500 schools across the United States were tested on mathematics and reading. Of the 19,300 students who completed the mathematics exam, 22% performed at or above a proficient level. Of the 24,300 students who completed the reading exam, 35% performed at or above a proficient level. Twenty-three thousand eighth-graders from across 600 U.S. schools were tested in science, with 31% performing at or above a proficient level.
Forty-five percent of high school seniors performed below the NAEP’s basic achievement level in mathematics, 5 points more than two decades ago. More than 3 in 10 high school seniors scored below the basic achievement level in reading, up from 2 in 10 in 1992. Thirty-eight percent of eighth grade students scored below basic achievement levels in science.
WHERE THINGS STAND ON TRUMP’S GOAL OF DISMANTLING THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
With test scores falling during the Biden administration, McMahon and President Donald Trump’s administration are overhauling federal education policy and are focusing on school choice and cutting red tape. Due to large cuts to the Education Department, McMahon said that “local communities, with parents in the driver’s seat, can better innovate, adapt, and tailor education to their students’ needs.”
In July, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump’s nearly 1,400 Education Department layoffs were legal, paving the way for the dismantling of the federal department, though that move would still require congressional approval.
