U.S. Districts Post Lower Test Scores in 83% of Reading Results Over 10 Years
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 13
U.S. Districts Post Lower Test Scores in 83% of Reading Results Over 10 Years
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 13
New Stanford district-level data through 2025 shows students in most U.S. school districts are performing worse than a decade ago, with reading scores lower in 83% of districts and math lower in 70%.
The data suggests the slide was not just a pandemic shock: from 2017 to 2019, students lost as much ground in reading as they did during the pandemic, and reading kept falling at a similar pace through 2024.
Reading scores edged up last year and math has risen more steadily since 2022, but researchers said those gains remain far too small to erase the broader losses.
The declines span rich and poor districts and cut across racial and geographic lines, underscoring a long-running national slump in student achievement rather than isolated local setbacks.
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