National teen test scores fall for the first time in 50 years, study shows

The nation’s 13-year-olds are less proficient in math and reading than they were almost a decade ago, according to newly released data collected just before the start of the pandemic.

It’s the first time these scores — collected as part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress’ long-term trend study — have dropped in either subject in the 50-year history of the test, as Politico reported. To make matters worse, the report also revealed that the students, ages 9 and 13, who struggle the most with the exam, often referred to as the nation’s report card, have fallen even further behind. Some experts say this suggests that the learning loss triggered by the pandemic may well be dire. 

The bottom line is that math scores fell furthest among students whose performance ranked in the 10th and 25th percentiles, meaning that test takers with the lowest math scores in 2020 did worse than the students who struggled the most when the test was last administered in 2012. The data also reveals that the achievement gap between white and Black test-takers widened.

“It’s really a matter for national concern, this high percentage of students who are not reaching even what I think we’d consider the lowest levels of proficiency,” said George Bohrnstedt, a senior vice president and institute fellow at the American Institutes for Research, as the LA School Report noted. 

In another grim takeaway, a lower percentage of 13-year-olds reported regularly reading for fun almost every day than the share of students who said they did so a decade ago. Students who said they read, researchers noted, generally got higher scores.

Pedro Noguera, dean of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, said the results reflect the opportunity gap between low-income Black and Latino students and their more privileged peers. The disadvantaged students’ districts are still too often focused on standardized test prep, he suggested, which can actually lead to poorer performance.

“We need to make learning more compelling and more interesting to kids. We need to get them more deeply engaged,” Noguera said, as Politico reported. “That’s how we create self-motivated learners. That’s how we lift these scores.”