Student learning is stagnating and, in some areas, declining
NEW YORK, NY – As students prepare to end the school year, it is a good time to reflect on educational benchmarks. Unfortunately, the latest results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly known as the Nation’s Report Card, offer a bleak picture. Despite decades of reforms and billions in federal spending, student reading proficiency has remained unchanged, and math scores are at their lowest in two decades. Fourth- and eighth-grade reading proficiency is at an average of 30%–31%. Math proficiency for both grades peaked in 2013 but has now declined to 39% for fourth grade and 28% for eighth grade.
In a new Manhattan Institute issue brief, Dr. Jennifer Weber, Director of Systems for Learning and Development at KIT Educational Consulting, examines these results from the 2024 NAEP. The findings reveal that long-standing national and state-level interventions including No Child Left Behind, Common Core, and the Every Student Succeeds Act have yielded inconsistent outcomes in student success. Weber finds that increased funding has not led to measurable improvements, and declining accountability has compounded the issue.
Weber analyzes national trends, state trends, urban trends, racial trends, public schools versus charter schools, collective bargaining laws, and funding levels. Although the data present a concerning picture of America’s stagnating and declining education, policymakers can use the data to forge a path forward. Weber makes the following recommendations to reverse the decline and improve student performance:
- Reinstitute accountability through mechanisms like mayoral control.
- Ensure accurate diagnoses for student learning disabilities.
- Release the data and increase transparency in academic performance, funding, and curricula.
- Expand educational freedom and choice to empower families in their child’s learning needs and goals.
Click here to read the full issue brief.
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