US students performing worse in school than 10 years ago: Report
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Key Points:
- A new report from Harvard, Stanford, and Dartmouth reveals that U.S. students' reading and math performance has declined since 2013, with reading scores dropping even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The decline in reading scores persisted at a similar rate before, during, and after the pandemic, with eighth-graders' reading scores in 2025 matching their lowest levels since 1990.
- Researchers attribute the "learning recession" to factors including the end of the No Child Left Behind Act, increased social media use, reduced testing, student absences, and insufficient literacy reforms.
- Experts caution against viewing the decline as a crisis but emphasize the need to engage students more effectively and address underlying causes to improve learning outcomes.
- Some progress has been noted in schools adopting evidence-based methods like the "science of reading" phonics approach, which has led to higher test scores in certain districts.