According to results released by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, high schoolers are graduating with weaker math and reading skills as the gap between higher and lower-performing students widens in most areas, according to an article in K-12 Dive.
The results show a 3-point decrease for 12th graders in both math and reading compared to 2019. The low scores in 2024 were even below scores almost two decades earlier in 2005 for math and below scores from 1992 for reading.
The average 12th grade math score is the lowest score ever reported for 12th grade, with 45% of students not even showing basic skills.
Less than a quarter — only 22% — of 12th graders scored at or above proficient in math, down 2 percentage points from 2019.
Only a third of 12th graders were considered academically ready for entry-level college math coursework in 2024, down four percentage points from 37% in 2019.
Similar results were seen in 12th graders’ reading achievement. The largest percentage ever — 32% — scored below basic level reading.
Only 35% of 12th graders were proficient in reading, down 2 percentage points from 2019.
A smaller portion of 12th grade students were considered academically prepared for college-level reading coursework, at 35% in 2024 versus 37% in 2019.
NAEP results also showed a 4-point drop in science for 8th graders, who were in early elementary grades when COVID-19 shut down schools. More than a third, or 38%, of 8th graders couldn’t meet basic performance. That’s the highest percentage of students since 2009 to score that low.
“The pandemic left deep and uneven impacts on student learning across subjects, and science was no exception,” says Susan Kowalski, lead research scientist at NWEA.
As for achievement gaps, performance widened between the highest- and lowest-performing students, except for in 12th grade reading.
Here are takeaways on the achievement gaps:
- The gap between the highest- and lowest-performing students in 12th grade math is wider than in all previous years.
- In reading, the gap between the highest- and lowest-performing students is wider than in all previous years, outside of 2019.
- The gender gap for students in science — previously considered closed, according to some measures — re-emerged in 2024, with male students ahead of female students by 2 points.
The National Parents Union called the results a “five-alarm fire for America’s children and their future.”
“Millions of young people are leaving school with fewer skills, less knowledge and dimmer prospects than the generations before them.”
“The latest NAEP results are sobering, though not surprising. With 12th grade NAEP, some caution is warranted since seniors may not always give the test their full attention,” says Dale Chu, assessment expert and independent education consultant. ”Still, the ‘worst reading scores ever’ headline is hard to dismiss.”
National Association for Secondary School Principals CEO Ronn Nozoe says “too many students still aren’t getting the support they need to succeed.” Nozoe says policymakers should help school leaders boost not only test scores but also mental health services, school staffing and retention, and academic resources.
Kowalski says the results require “sustained investment in strategies that work” like integrating reading and science instruction in the early grades.
Literacy should be embedded across subjects to encourage systemic change, according to Miah Daughtery, vice president of advocacy, literacy policy and government affairs for the NWEA.
″They also suggest that education leaders and policy makers should rethink support for older students,” Daughtery says. Change may also require using age-appropriate assessments, investing in teacher training, and rethinking how instructional time is used to support adolescent readers.
K-12 Dive
