By Helen Coster
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Over 30% of U.S. students in their last year of high school lack basic reading skills, the lowest performance in over three decades, according to test results released on Tuesday that the administration of President Donald Trump pointed to as justification for its push to shrink the federal government’s role in education in favor of more control by the states.
The results from testing in 2024 are part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a congressionally authorized project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and administered by the National Center for Education Statistics.
They raise questions about the country’s ability to compete globally and adjust to workforce changes made only sharper by the advent of AI and other technology.
The report also showed that 45% of high school seniors lack basic math skills, up five percentage points from 20 years ago, and 38% of eighth-graders lack basic science skills, up five percentage points from 2019 but not measurably different from 2009.
“These results are sobering,” said NCES Acting Commissioner Matthew Soldner in a statement. “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.”
The report identified regional disparities, with twelfth-grade math and reading scores and eighth-grade science scores declining in the South and Midwest between 2019 and 2024.
The findings come amid major shifts in U.S. education. Republican Trump has gutted the Department of Education.
Federal law prohibits the department from controlling school operations, including curriculum, instruction and staffing. Authority over these decisions belongs to state and local governments, which provide more than 85% of public school funding.
In a video that accompanied the project’s release, Education Secretary Linda McMahon framed the results as further justification for dismantling the department.
“Clearly, success isn’t about how much money we spend, but who spends it,” McMahon said. “That’s why President Trump and I are committed to reversing course and returning control of education to the states, so local communities with parents in the driver’s seat can better innovate, adapt and tailor education to their students’ needs.”
(Reporting by Helen Coster in New York; editing by Donna Bryson and Alistair Bell)
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