Public school test scores continue to decline since pandemic

By Esther Wickham
The Center Square

Academic achievement in U.S. public schools continues to fall behind pre-pandemic levels, with national test data showing a persistent decline in math and reading scores years after COVID-19.

Test results from the National Center for Education Statistics show that average scores on 12th-grade math and reading assessments dropped three points from 2019. Among fourth graders, average math scores were also three points lower than before the pandemic, while eighth graders saw math scores decline by eight points over five years. Reading scores for fourth and eighth graders dropped five points between 2019 and 2024.

With this overall decline, students are performing below basic proficiency levels. Thirty-two percent of high school seniors scored below the National Assessment of Education Progress basic level in reading, up from 20% in 1992. In math, 45% of 12th graders fell below the basic benchmark, compared to 40% in 2005.

In September 2022, former Commissioner Peggy G. Carr of the National Center for Education Statistics said the pandemic impacted more than just students’ grades. Mental health services, school violence and disruption, cyberbullying and nationwide teacher and staff shortages increased.

Acting Commissioner Matthew Soldner said the declines are concentrated among the nation’s lowest-performing students.

“These results are sobering,” Soldner said in a statement. “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.”

With these academic declines, total nationwide school district debt rose more than 2.1% from $532.5 billion in 2021 to $543.9 billion in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Now it is nearing $1 trillion.

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the results highlight the need for changes in how education funding is managed.

“Despite spending billions annually on numerous K-12 programs, the achievement gap is widening, and more high school seniors are performing below the basic benchmark in math and reading than ever before,” McMahon said, adding that the Trump administration supports giving states more control over education spending.

House Education Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Michigan, warned that the long-term implications extend beyond the classroom.

“Low academic skills don’t just hurt grades. They weaken our economy, workforce, and national security,” Walberg said. “Without strong foundations in these core subjects, America’s freedom and economic competitiveness will be in jeopardy.”

Rusty Brown, director of special projects at the Freedom Foundation, said bureaucratic growth and union influence have reduced efficiency and academic rigor.

“You have to strive for excellence, and if you fall short and hit very good, I mean, that’s a lot better than where we are right now,” Brown told The Center Square. “Where we’re trying to make failing, not failing anymore; not by getting better, but by lowering standards. I think that is an absolutely disastrous way to look at our education system.”

A report from the Brookings Institution found that the expiration of federal pandemic aid and declining school funding could threaten ongoing recovery efforts, underscoring the need for sustained investment in evidence-based interventions.

During the pandemic, many colleges and universities adopted test-optional or test-free admissions policies.

Some institutions have since reinstated standardized testing requirements, including Harvard University, Yale University, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Georgetown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California Institute of Technology, along with the public university systems in Florida and Georgia.