Campus Reform reports math scores for nine-year-olds had the largest decline in half a century. Reading proficiency isn't much better.
Since 2020, U.S. 13-year-olds’ average test scores have dropped four points in reading and 9 points in math, the lowest in decades, with the steepest declines among low-performing students, according to NPR.
In 2024, in response to declining academic performance, the College Board shortened SAT reading passages, switched to adaptive computerized testing, and eliminated the optional essay, drawing criticism for lowering standards, Campus Reform reports.
One factor in the decline has been a weakness among teachers, says David Randall of the National Association of Scholars.
"There's been steady deterioration in teaching for several generations. The disassembly of school discipline due to above all Obama administration initiatives in the early 2010. COVID didn't help but the teaching has simply become worse and worse."
Campus Reform reports a number of red states are trying to reform public education with universal school choice, but that’s not enough. States themselves need to continue the reform.
Unfortunately, some secondary and college schools continue to reaffirm DEI principles, which exacerbates the problem, the news outlet reports.
"Education reform has to continue at the state and local level to make sure we have new bureaucrats, new teachers, new and better teachers. Simply handing off from radical bureaucrats at the federal level to radical bureaucrats at the state level, would give you some accountability improvement, but not really enough."
