WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Very low-level proficiency has been reported among American school students in multiple subjects in the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Average scores declined from 2019 to 2024 for the nation's eighth-graders in science and twelfth-graders in mathematics and reading, according to the latest results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as The Nation's Report Card. The 2024 results, released Tuesday by the National Center for Education Statistics, are the first post-pandemic NAEP scores for each assessment.
The study examined how students performed in the nation compared to 2019.
Average scores were lower across all three assessments.
Just 31 percent of eighth grade students are proficient in science, the report says.
Just 22 percent of high school seniors are proficient in math - the lowest score since the current assessment began.
Just 35 percent of high school seniors are proficient in reading, which is the lowest score on record.
'These results are sobering,' NCES Acting Commissioner Matthew Soldner said. '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. Among our nation's high school seniors, we're now seeing a larger percentage of students scoring below the NAEP Basic achievement level in mathematics and reading than in any previous assessment.'
The White House termed the results released from the 2024 assessments as 'devastating'.
Since 1979, the U.S. Department of Education has spent more than $3 trillion and per-pupil spending has increased by more than 245 percent - with nothing to show for it, the White House says. Standardized test scores have remained flat for decades and U.S. students rank near the bottom compared to other developed nations in critical subjects like math, according to it.
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