(The Federalist) Last week, the National Center for Education Statistics released results from the 2025 National Assessment of Educational Progress Long-Term Trend Assessments. These widely respected reading and mathematics tests have been administered periodically to representative samples of 9- and 13-year-old students since the 1970s. While some student groups have made promising gains, test results suggest that our public schools continue to fall short for far too many children.
Nine-year-old students appear to be headed in the right direction. Reading and mathematics scores for this group increased from 2022 to 2025, and scores in both subjects remain significantly higher than those recorded in the 1970s. While the results for 9-year-olds were promising, the most recent increase in reading scores merely rebounded to pre-COVID levels, and achievement gaps persist across multiple student demographic groups.
On the other hand, results for 13-year-old students remain appalling.