US Students’ Reading Scores Take a Dive, New Data Shows
Reading performance among U.S. 15-year-olds fell to one of its lowest recorded levels, while math and science scores were essentially unchanged, OECD said.
- On Tuesday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development released its 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment results, showing U.S. reading scores fell 14 points from 2022 to reach one of the lowest levels since 2000.
- While American students score above the OECD average in reading and science, math proficiency remains flat at 65%; the U.S. has gained relative standing globally, though largely because scores in other developed nations have deteriorated faster.
- The U.S. faces the largest achievement gap between top and bottom performers of any country in the report, though results lack demographic breakdowns because over 40% of students missed questionnaires during a spring 2025 Education Department pause involving U.S. DOGE Service cuts.
- Education Secretary Linda McMahon termed the results a "decade of stagnation and a devastating gap," while Kevin Huffman, CEO of education nonprofit Accelerate, stated he worries that top-performing students' success decreases the urgency to improve educational performance for all children.
- Researchers attribute the global decline in learning outcomes to factors like student absenteeism and screen proliferation, as OECD's Andreas Schleicher wrote that outcomes have stagnated for over a decade, raising questions about the U.S. capacity to support its most disadvantaged students effectively.
22 Articles
22 Articles
US students’ reading scores take a dive, new data shows - Regional Media News
(WASHINGTON) - New data shows U.S. students continue to fall behind their peers in reading as the country's achievement gap widens, according to results from the latest globally recognized international exam. The 2025 Program for International Assessment, or PISA, found that 15-year-old U.S. students' reading [...]
Deltaplex News
US students’ reading scores take a dive, new data shows
(WASHINGTON) - New data shows U.S. students continue to fall behind their peers in reading as the country's achievement gap widens, according to results from the latest globally recognized international exam. The 2025 Program for International Assessment, or PISA, found that 15-year-old U.S. students' reading [...]
Good Morning America
US students' reading scores take a dive, new data shows
A new report shows U.S. reading scores dropped 14 points among 15-year-old students.
Bay News 9
U.S. teen reading scores fall
The 15-year-old U.S. reading score on the PISA test has fallen 14 points since 2022.
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