U.S. students' "reading recession" continuing but some places bucking the trend
Summary
Most U.S. students are still reading at levels below those before the pandemic, continuing a long-term decline known as the "reading recession." However, a few states and districts, like Modesto in California, have improved reading and math scores by changing how they teach reading and offering more support to students.Key Facts
- Reading test scores for U.S. students have been declining since 2013 for eighth graders and 2015 for fourth graders.
- Only five states and the District of Columbia showed meaningful reading score growth from 2022 to 2025.
- The pandemic made the reading decline worse but the problem started years before.
- Schools improving has focused on phonics-based reading instruction, which teaches kids to sound out words.
- States like Louisiana, Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana led reading improvements using this phonics approach.
- Math scores improved in almost every state from 2022 to 2025.
- Student absenteeism went down in most states during this time.
- Some states changed reading instruction but did not see improvements, showing that changes alone don’t guarantee better scores.
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