Why U.S. Test Scores Are in a 'Generation-Long Decline'

[Zorro]

The drops go beyond the pandemic and cut across income, geographic and racial divides, new data shows.

Something troubling is happening in U.S. education.

Almost everywhere in America, students are performing worse than their peers were 10 years ago, according to new, district-level test score data released Wednesday by the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford.

Compared with a decade earlier, reading scores were down last year in 83 percent of school districts where data was available. Math scores were down in 70 percent. The declines have affected both rich and poor districts, and crossed racial and geographic divides.

The new data provides the first national comparison of school districts through 2025, and offers a detailed picture of how individual school districts have performed over time. It underscores that many districts have experienced a long-term slump in student achievement, not just a blip during the pandemic.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/upshot/test-scores-school-districts-us.html?smid=url-share