The class of 2025 just made history—in the worst way

Math and reading scores for U.S. high school seniors are plummeting, according to new federal data released on Tuesday. Reading skills in particular have suffered, with test results dropping to their lowest scores since the assessments first began in 1992.

According to the new data, 32% of 12th grade students performed below the assessment’s basic reading achievement level, which measures whether students can find relevant details within text and come away with a literal understanding of what they read. In 1992, the portion of 12th grade students falling below that basic measure of reading comprehension was 20%.

Only 35% of 12th graders demonstrated a “proficient” level of reading skill, meaning that they could connect key points across reading samples and make more sophisticated inferences about tone, word choice, and themes. In 2024, the portion of students who demonstrated proficient reading skills dropped by 2% compared with 2019, and 5% compared with the test’s 1992 baseline scores.

The new test data on high school seniors was collected in 2024, making it the first set of scores to be published after the educational disruptions that students experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data is part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a federal testing program also known as the Nation’s Report Card. Fourth grade and eighth grade students are given the assessments every two years, while 12th grade students are evaluated every four years.

High school seniors also performed worse in math, achieving the lowest scores since the math assessment began in 2005. Only a third of seniors performed at a level that showed they were academically ready for college, down from 37% in 2019.

“These results are sobering,” National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) acting commissioner Matthew Soldner said. “The drop in overall scores coincides with significant declines in achievement among our lowest-performing students, continuing a downward trend that began even before the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Unprecedented setbacks

The latest scores for high school seniors show that all is not well in the American educational system. Test scores have been sliding for more than a decade, a trend made worse by disruptions to schooling during the pandemic.

The new score data, published for the first time since 2020, shows that pandemic-linked performance losses for students aren’t fading away as time passes, like many had hoped. That trend is backed by this year’s assessment of 8th graders, whose reading scores fell even further in 2024, deepening a steep drop-off in scores observed from 2019 to 2022.

Reading scores began dropping prior to the pandemic, but researchers and educators are still trying to make sense of why. How time spent on screens influences children is a complex issue and can trend positive or negative, depending on how much time they spend and what they’re doing.

Some research has shown that deeper reading comprehension is worse when kids read on screens, but rolling back the digital revolution in the classroom isn’t likely to emerge as a one-size-fits-all solution. In the U.S., adults are consuming digital media more and reading for pleasure less than ever. The way adults consume information has changed radically in recent decades, with the emergence of algorithm-driven social media, the rise of information disseminated via short-form video, and the continued deterioration of news sources.

Beyond the classroom, all of those changes will continue to influence young learners—who are plunged into a fast-paced, unpredictable digital information ecosystem, often as early as age 8. With AI now in the mix, students are doing their best to navigate a complex world filled with potent new tools that are already upending life for many adults.