New data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the Nation’s Report Card, reveals a persistent decline in reading and math achievement among American students that began more than a decade ago and has accelerated in recent years. The results, released by the National Center for Education Statistics, show average reading scores for 9‑year‑olds fell by 5 points between 2020 and 2022, marking the largest single drop recorded in three decades.
Math performance among 13‑year‑olds also deteriorated, with average scores 8 points lower in 2022 than they had been in 2012. These declines are not limited to domestic assessments. The Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, administered by the OECD, tracks the performance of 15‑year‑olds across countries.
In 2000, American teens posted an average reading score of 504; by 2018 that number had slipped to 497. Math scores fell even more steeply over the same period, dropping from 493 to 478.
Science scores, by contrast, remained relatively flat.
A Sustained Slide Across Age Groups
The timing of the declines suggests a long‑term trend that predates any single disruption. The NAEP data show reading scores for both 9‑ and 13‑year‑olds have been sliding since 2012, a trajectory that began years before the COVID‑19 pandemic disrupted classrooms in 2020. The sharpest reading drop on record was recorded among the youngest students between 2020 and 2022, but the underlying erosion had already been visible for nearly a decade.
Math scores for 13‑year‑olds also reflect a steady downward drift: the 8‑point drop from 2012 to 2022 is the latest marker in a pattern that extends well before the pandemic years. The PISA results reinforce the picture of a gradual but measurable loss of ground relative to earlier cohorts of American students.
The reading score decline from 504 in 2000 to 497 in 2018, and the steeper math slide from 493 to 478, indicate that the problem is not confined to elementary or middle school but continues into high school.
Possible Connections to Classroom Technology
The timeline of these achievement declines coincides with a massive shift in American classrooms: the widespread adoption of digital devices for instruction and assessment. Researchers are careful to note that correlation does not imply causation — just because two trends move together does not mean one caused the other.
However, the coincidence has prompted educators and policymakers to examine how screen time, online learning platforms, and reduced paper‑based reading might affect foundational skills. The NAEP data themselves do not identify a cause; they simply measure outcomes. The same booklets and procedures are used across the country so that results can be compared over decades.
The long record lets observers see whether achievement is holding steady or slipping across time. A sustained drop in both reading and math signals a wide problem that reaches beyond any one classroom, school, or district.
Understanding the Nation’s Report Card
The National Assessment of Educational Progress is the largest continuing and nationally representative measure of what American students know and can do in core subjects. Congress created the assessment in the late 1960s, with the first national administration carried out in 1969. A bipartisan governing board was later established by lawmakers in 1988 to set policy and build the test frameworks.
The project is run by the National Center for Education Statistics under the federal education department. Results are reported only for groups, never for individual students or schools.
Demographic breakdowns and school surveys give context to the scores. Because the same procedures are used nationwide, the data allow reliable comparisons over time. Policymakers, parents, and educators rely on the Nation’s Report Card to judge where instruction needs attention. The latest findings underscore that the erosion of core academic skills is not a temporary blip but a trend that has been unfolding for more than a decade.
Understanding the causes and crafting effective responses will require careful analysis that goes beyond the numbers themselves.
