American Kids’ Reading Skills Are Getting Worse
The reading skills of American students are deteriorating, new national test scores reported by the Wall Street Journal on January 29 show.
- Only 67 percent of eighth graders scored a basic or better reading level in 2024—the lowest rate since testing began in 1992.
- Only 60 percent of fourth graders hit that benchmark, which is close to a record low.
The declines were widespread across students in different states, school types, races and economic backgrounds.
Future impact: Scores on the reading test are linked to the economic success of the students and the nation as a whole. Statistics show students with poor reading skills are less likely to graduate high school, less likely to vote as adults, and more likely to be imprisoned.
Pandemic problems: The decline in reading skills, as well as math, worsened during the covid-19 pandemic and has persisted since. Many younger students struggled to keep up when they returned to in-person instruction.
“There were students whose first experience with school happened through the computer—they didn’t even know how to hold a pencil,” Brandi Variman, former principal at a New York City charter school, said. Schools had to double down on reading instruction and offer extra tutoring, she added.
Peggy Carr, a Department of Education official, said there has been a decline in students’ joy for reading in recent years and a steep rise in students who read on devices.
Bigger problem: Declining reading skills is worrying for the future of the nation, but it’s only part of a larger trend: the rapid decline of the educational system. In recent years, American schools have prioritized teaching “woke” ideas and extreme beliefs such as critical race theory, while basic reading, writing and arithmetic take the back seat.
This dangerous trend threatens the future of the nation. To learn more, read “What Is Your Child Learning in Public School?”