More than half of fourth graders nationwide have not mastered reading at a proficient level for their grade, and the share of students considered proficient is now 2 percentage points lower than two years earlier, new data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows.
“The data shows that the majority of the nation’s school systems have failed to master effective reading instruction, ignoring not only how it should be taught (e.g., proven science) but also the importance of engaging students with rich content and literature that stimulates the mind and ensures that vocabulary and comprehension increase,” Center for Education Reform Founder and CEO Jeanne Allen told The Christian Post in a statement Wednesday.
“When students are not reading on grade level by third grade, their life-long choices are severely limited. One long-term study found that when a student fails to meet this bar, they are 4 times more likely to drop out of school. In fact, 88% of these dropouts were struggling readers in third grade,” added Mindy Sjoblom of OnYourMark Education.
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Released this week, the results of the NAEP, a congressionally mandated test designed to measure the general state of education nationally, paint a grim picture of student performance at both the fourth and eighth-grade levels in reading and math.
The data shows that average scores declined in reading at both grade levels. Among fourth graders, only 31% of students were ranked at a NAEP proficient level, meaning they “have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter, including subject-matter knowledge, application of such knowledge to real world situations, and analytical skills appropriate to the subject matter.”
The reading performance of fourth graders at this level is 2 percentage points lower compared to 2022 but not significantly different from 1992, when the first reading assessment was administered.
Most fourth graders (60%) were ranked at the NAEP basic level, meaning they only have “partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for performance at the NAEP Proficient level.”
This level of mastery also reflected a 2-percentage-point decline among fourth graders. Still, some 40% of fourth-grade students were found to be performing below the NAEP basic level in reading in 2024, which is larger than the share of students who ranked at this level in 2022. Some 8% of fourth graders were ranked at the NAEP advanced level, which indicates “superior performance beyond NAEP Proficient.”
Among eighth-grade students, 30% of students were ranked as NAEP proficient in reading for 2024, which was not significantly better than in 2022. Most eighth graders (67%) were ranked at the NAEP basic level in reading, much lower compared to 2022 and 1992.
Thirty-three percent of eighth graders ranked below the NAEP basic level, reflecting a larger share of students reading at the level compared to data from 2022 and 1992. About 4% of eighth-grade students were ranked at the NAEP advanced level, which was not significantly different from 2022 but higher than the share in 1992.
Math performance among fourth graders showed a 2-point gain between 2022 and 2024, following a 5-point decline from 2019 to 2022. Eighth-grade scores in mathematics showed no significant change.
In a press statement Wednesday, National Center for Education Statistics Commissioner Peggy G. Carr agreed that the findings are cause for concern.
“Overall, student achievement has not returned to pre-pandemic performance,” she said. “Where there are signs of recovery, they are mostly in math and largely driven by higher-performing students. Lower-performing students are struggling, especially in reading.”
Associate NCES Commissioner Daniel McGrath echoed Carr’s sentiments.
“NAEP has reported declines in reading achievement consistently since 2019, and the continued declines since the pandemic suggest we’re facing complex challenges that cannot be fully explained by the impact of COVID-19,” he said.
Nicki Neily, president of the national conservative grassroots organization Parents Defending Education, said the latest results highlight a crisis in the American education system.
“This year’s NAEP scores clearly show that the American education system is in crisis. While many of these declines began before the pandemic, they were without a doubt exacerbated by the extended school closures demanded by unions during Covid,” Neily said while criticizing the returns of heavy government spending on education.
“Over the past several years, schools around the country have turned into little more than taxpayer-funded babysitting centers focused primarily on social-emotional wellbeing, identity politics, and self-esteem, rather than teaching children core curriculum in ordered classrooms; it’s little wonder that chronic absenteeism rates have spiked as students perceive education to be optional,” she argued.
“Our country has betrayed a generation of young learners and robbed them of opportunities, and it is imperative that we as a nation commit to refocusing the American education system on reading, writing, and arithmetic — as well as re-prioritizing hard work and excellence.”
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