Despite billions in federal funding to address post-pandemic learning loss, reading scores for America’s students continue to decline, according to the latest results from the Nation’s Report Card. This national assessment, known as National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), evaluates fourth and eighth-graders academic performance, most recently reporting reading and math. Rather than showing signs of academic recovery, the data shows a harsh reality that American reading has only worsened.
The last report in 2022 already saw an extreme drop in reading scores and experts blamed this on the disturbance of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many educators and government officials hoped the 2024 report would show restored scores. However the latest report says otherwise.
The most concerning trend is the increase in students performing below basic reading levels. 40% of fourth graders nationwide are reported to now fall into this category in 2024 compared to 37% in 2022 when the pandemic ended and only 34% pre-pandemic in 2019. This situation is even worse for eighth graders catching a record high percentage of students reading below basic since the test started in 1992.
Head of Lower School Douglas Wainright said, “While the NAEP provides important information about how students are performing nationally, it doesn’t say why. That is the big question for policy makers and leaders of public districts. What we do know, however, is that many important aspects of reading need to be in place at a very young age for students to be successful. In Lower School, our program teaches all the critical components of reading and endeavors to have reading be an activity that students love to do, on their own and with their families. We believe, and research shows, that this is the right mix of ingredients to create strong readers. As a result, although measured on a different assessment, our reading outcomes are much higher than the national average.”
These national results raise serious concerns about if education will ever be restored or is it only going to continue to worsen. Without immediate action on this cause America risks falling into an even deeper hole of struggling American readers that could set back a whole generation.
Note: To see the full NAEP report visit https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/reading/2024/g4_8/?grade=4
