The Hill: What to know about the latest declines in student scores on the Nation’s Report Card

The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) offered a grim outlook Tuesday for 8th and 12th grade students in their first results since before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Scores dropped to the lowest in decades for reading and math scores among high school seniors, along with declines in 8th grade science.

The results raise concerns on workforce readiness among those leaving high school, as well as questions about how to reverse negative trends that began before the pandemic.  

Scores drop for 12th, 8th grade students  

What is commonly called Nation’s Report Card showed 12th grade students saw their lowest scores in reading and math in decades.  

In math, 45 percent of high school seniors scored below “basic,” the lowest since 2005. In reading, 32 percent in the exam taken last year scored below “basic,” the lowest since the exam began in 1992.  

For 8th graders in science, 38 percent scored below “basic,” meaning they wouldn’t be able to recall simple facts such as plants needing sunlight to grow.  

The drops were seen across racial and ethnic groups.  

Along with declines in test scores, the achievement gap between the highest performing and lowest performing students continued to widen in all areas except 12th grade reading, which stayed around the same.  

“Scores for our lowest-performing students are at historic lows,” said Matthew Soldner, the acting commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, the Associated Press reported. “These results should galvanize all of us to take concerted and focused action to accelerate student learning.” 

Drop in student readiness for college  

Amid declines in 12th grade scores, college readiness has dropped as more students enter higher education.  

In math, only 33 percent of high school seniors are considered college-ready, and only 35 percent are college-ready on reading.  

The findings are concerning leaders for the future of the workforce, especially one that may be dominated by artificial intelligence.

“Today’s NAEP scores continue to show a devastating decline in math, science, and reading scores. Low academic skills don’t just hurt grades, they weaken our economy, workforce, and national security. Without strong foundations in these core subjects, America’s freedom and economic competitiveness will be in jeopardy,” House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) said.  

You may read the full article in The Hill here: https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5493847-naep-nations-report-card-student-test-scores/.