U.S. Students Post Lowest Reading Scores in Decades

Eighth-grade students are averaging their lowest-ever reading scores since the Department of Education began tracking nationwide progress in 1992.

The newly released results for the 2024 National Assessment of Student Progress paint a dim picture of reading skills among students who are on the verge of entering high school, even as the data shows that absenteeism rates have begun to trend down since the last NAEP in 2022.

Reading scores for 8th graders have fallen in eight states and seven of the nation’s 25 largest school districts since 2022. The results are even worse compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic tests—8th-grade reading scores were lower in 28 states and 11 of the 25 largest districts compared to the 2019 NAEP.

“Today’s NAEP results reveal a heartbreaking reality for American students and confirm our worst fears: not only did most students not recover from pandemic-related learning loss, but those students who were the most behind and needed the most support have fallen even further behind,” the Department of Education said in an unattributed statement released Wednesday. “Despite the billions of dollars that the federal government invests in K-12 education annually and the approximately $190 billion in federal pandemic funds, our education system continues to fail students across the nation.”

The latest NAEP reading scores for 4th graders were also lower than they were in 1992. Math scores stayed level for 8th graders and rose slightly for 4th graders compared to 2022, although they are still below 2019 levels. 

In both math and reading, the data shows that student scores at the lower end of the spectrum are falling the most while scores at the upper end of the spectrum are, in some cases, rising slightly, which suggests a growing gap between low- and high-performing students.

Chronic absenteeism has been a persistent barrier to student learning in recent years, but the NAEP data shows some progress: 29% of 8th graders and 30% of 4th graders reported missing at least three days of school in the month prior to taking the 2024 test, compared to 32% of 8th graders and 35% of 4th graders in 2022. Those rates are still significantly higher than they were in 2019, however.

But experts point to a variety of other factors that are also contributing to poor literacy rates for students, including schools that push students towards graduation even when they’ve failed to teach them basic skills and the widespread use of reading curricula that isn’t backed by evidence.

The most notable bright spot in the 2024 NAEP data was Louisiana, which has been near the bottom of the state rankings in reading but saw the nation’s largest boost in 4th-grade reading scores in the latest results. Federal and state education officials said Louisiana’s progress was the result of changes in how teachers are trained to teach students to read.

“Our intentional focus on equipping teachers and leaders is one of the main factors that has translated into academic growth for Louisiana children,” Jenna Chiasson, the state’s deputy schools superintendent, said in a statement. “By providing educators with meaningful professional learning, coaching, and collaboration opportunities, we have supported them in using high-quality instructional materials in service of students.”