‘Learning Recession’: Why Student Test Scores Have Seen a Decade-Long Decline Across the U.S.
Student test scores in the U.S. have declined over the past decade, with reading and math performance falling below 2015 levels, according to data from Stanford University. The decline began around 2013, before the pandemic, and has continued despite recent partial rebounds in math achievement. Experts attribute the trend to reduced focus on education reform, the rise of social media, and weakened test-based accountability in schools.
- ▪Reading scores in 2025 were down 0.6 grades compared to 2015, while math scores dropped by 0.4 grades.
- ▪The U.S. entered a 'learning recession' around 2013, when academic progress flattened or declined after decades of improvement.
- ▪Social media use and the weakening of test-based accountability are cited as key factors in the decline of student achievement.
- ▪Math achievement saw some recovery between 2022 and 2025, but reading scores continued to fall, reaching their lowest levels since 1990 for eighth graders.
- ▪Experts say schools must place greater emphasis on reading to counteract the negative effects of social media on student learning habits.
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Over the past ten-plus years, American students’ academic achievement has experienced a concerning decline. Test scores for students in grades K through 12 are lower than they were a decade ago in school districts across the U.S., according to new data released Wednesday by the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University. Reading scores were down roughly 0.6 grades in 2025 compared to 2015, and math scores were down about 0.4 grades. This means that students were 60% of one school year behind where their peers were in reading a decade earlier and 40% of one school year behind in math.The decline began even before 2015, according to a report on the data from the Education Scorecard, a collaboration between the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University and…
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