The average reading and math test scores for U.S. 13-year-olds have plummeted since 2020, according to data from National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The decline in math skills for children this age is “the single largest decline” in the past half century according to experts.
The average mathematics score for 13-year-olds declined nine points between the 2019 – 2020 and 2022 – 2023 school years, and the average reading score declined four points over the same time period of time, according to the NAEP.
“Green shoots,” a term used to describe signs of recovery during a downturn, “have not materialized, as we continue to see worrisome signs about student achievement and well-being more than two years after most students returned for in-person learning,” NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr said.
(Getty Images/Drazen Zigic)
“There are signs of risk for a generation of learners in the data we are releasing today and have released over the past year,” Carr added. “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 also noted that the math decline for 13-year-olds was “the single largest decline” seen in the past half a century, with the lowest-performing students returning to levels last seen in the 1970s.
Meanwhile, reading scores for lowest-performing students was “actually lower than it was the very first year the data were collected, in 1971,” Carr said.
Math scores declined for most student groups, NAEP said, noting that math scores declined by six points for white students, 10 points for Hispanic students, 13 points for black students, and 20 points for American Indian/Alaska Native students.
The math scores also dropped for both male and female students, for students attending schools in all school locations, and for students from all regions of the country. But mathematics scores for students attending Catholic schools were not measurably different.
The U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona reportedly reacted to the data saying the lower scores are a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which left many schools closed for more than a year.
Cardona added that the data confirms predictions that “the pandemic would have a devastating impact on students’ learning across the country and that it would take years of effort and investment to reverse the damage.”
While the scores were dropping even before the Chinese coronavirus disrupted society, the new data shows that the decline is even more substantial when compared with scores from ten years ago, suggesting that there are other factors at work.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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