High school seniors continue to struggle with literacy and numeracy, as revealed by historic declines in reading and math scores on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Administered to a nationally representative sample of 12th-grade students, the NAEP assessments measure students’ knowledge and skills in mathematics, their ability to solve problems in mathematical and real-world contexts, and their reading comprehension skills.
On the reading test, two-thirds (66 percent) of high school seniors could identify the main purpose of a persuasive essay, but only one in 5 (20 percent) could draw a conclusion from the persuasive essay and support it with reference to the text. Three out of five (60 percent) students could not evaluate the persuasiveness of an argument presented in an argument text.
On the math test, only about one-quarter of high school seniors (26 percent) correctly answered a multistep problem involving addition and percentages (see below). Just under half (45 percent) were able to turn a real-life situation into an algebraic expression.
Question from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, Mathematics, Grade 12
The percentage of students meeting the NAEP Proficient level declined two percentage points between 2019 — when the tests were last administered — and 2024, dropping to 35 percent in reading and 22 percent in math. Students who previously struggled lost the most ground, widening the achievement gap between them and their higher-performing peers. (NOTE: As explained here, the NAEP Proficient achievement level does not represent grade-level proficiency as determined by state assessment standards.)
Not only are the 2024 results lower than in 2019 but they are also the lowest on record since the tests have first been administered (1992 for the reading NAEP and 2005 for the current math NAEP).
Determining the factors contributing to the concerning outcomes is difficult, as a number of causes could be involved, from lingering effects of extended school closure decisions to high absence rates, cell phone use and distractions in the classroom, and student misbehavior.
But the scores do raise questions about how well the U.S. education system is preparing students for future educational outcomes, career opportunities and a changing workforce, earnings potential, and economic mobility.
Internationally, the United States has slipped in rankings and continues to lag the academic performance of similar high-income economies. A number of countries have also succeeded at getting their math scores higher than they were pre-COVID, which is not the case for the U.S. “We did not adjust well to the pandemic as some other countries did,” explains Eric Hanushek, an economist at Stanford University.
As policymakers weigh changes to try and turn things around, an obvious immediate action is for governors to commit to opting their state into the new federal tax credit scholarship program that will take effect January 2027.
The scholarships would help eligible public school students pay for a wide variety of education expenses including math and reading tutoring and other supplemental and enrichment learning opportunities. They would not impact state revenue or jeopardize public school funding. North Carolina’s Democratic governor and Tennessee’s Republican governor have already stated they plan on opting their states in.
