A National Alarm: Why U.S. Reading Scores Keep Falling — and What It Means for All of Us

The most recent data from National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) confirms a troubling reality: reading achievement across U.S. schools is slipping. In the 2024 assessment, both 4th- and 8th-grade reading scores fell compared to 2022 — building on a decade-long downward trend. Shockingly, fewer than one-third of students nationwide are now reading at the “proficient” level.

About 40% of fourth graders and a third of eighth graders scored below even the “basic” benchmark — suggesting many young readers struggle to understand simple texts.For high school seniors (12th grade), the picture is even starker: 2024 scores were the lowest the assessment has recorded. The share reading below basic is the largest on record. What does this mean beyond test scores? Literacy is the gateway to almost every subject. When reading suffers, learning in history, science, even civics — and skills for adult life — are compromised. As one official put it, reading is “foundational to all subjects.”

If this trend continues, we face a potential generation for whom the ability to read well — and think critically about what they read — is no longer guaranteed. That’s an urgent wake-up call for parents, educators, and policymakers alike.