Middle Schoolers’ Reading and Math Scores Remain Below Pre-Pandemic Levels, US Results Show

While math and reading scores for 9-year-old students across the country have improved slightly over the past three years, their 13-year-old peers have seen no gains in the same subject areas, according to U.S. Department of Education data released on June 10.

Still, scores for both age groups remain below pre-pandemic levels in both subject areas.

That’s according to the latest release of the Nation’s Report Card, which provides new data for the two age groups dating back at least three years.

For the 9-year-olds, average scores last year were four points higher in both reading (218 out of 500) and math (238 out of 500) compared to those in 2022. For the 13-year-olds, average reading scores have remained at 256 since 2023, while math scores decreased by a point from 2023 to 270 last year.

The data, summarized by the federal agency’s National Assessment of Educational Progress office, is based on standardized assessment scores across all states for both public and private school students.

For the latest report, the office examined scores of more than 7,000 9-year-olds and more than 8,000 13-year-olds across more than 400 schools.

Stagnant or declining scores on the Nation’s Report Card across all grade levels in recent years have been a topic of debate among federal leaders. President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon advocate for eliminating the Department of Education, promoting universal school choice, and incentivizing states and local school districts to make improvements based on local priorities for public education. They’ve enjoyed support from Republican members of Congress.

Democrats have called for preserving the federal agency and providing more state and federal funding for public schools. During committee hearings in the past year, members also opposed private school voucher initiatives and criticized charter schools for taking funding away from public schools based on the per-pupil aid formulas.

The Department of Education has not yet released comments on the latest report.

The latest Nation’s Report Card data coincides with a new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality, a nonprofit organization made up of industry experts who review the effectiveness of teacher training programs. Its latest research indicates that about half of the nation’s colleges and universities with education programs of study aren’t providing effective reading instruction based on the most recent proven bodies of research.

Reading outcomes, the report said, won’t improve without better teacher preparation. Child literacy advocates and leaders in both K–12 and higher education across the nation urge policymakers and university administrators to consider the council’s recommendations to reverse this negative trend.

“When a new teacher walks into a classroom without a solid grounding in the science of reading, we’ve already put that teacher—and every child in front of them—at a disadvantage,” Anne Wicks, a program director at the George W. Bush Institute policy center, said in a news release.

“This is fixable, and it’s time to act.”