Key findings
- US reading scores are falling, but “most kids can’t read” is not what the data says. On NAEP 2024, 41% of public-school 4th graders scored below Basic and 30% reached Proficient; 59% reached at least Basic.
- Both tested grades lost ground. Average NAEP reading scores fell 2 points from 2022 and 5 points from 2019 in grades 4 and 8 (public-school averages: 214 and 257). No state improved in either grade.
- Eighth grade hit a record low share: 34% of public-school 8th graders scored below Basic, the largest share in NAEP reading history.
- PISA 2025 confirms the slide: US 15-year-olds scored 490 in reading, 14 points below 2022 and the lowest since PISA began in 2000, yet still above the OECD average of 461, which fell just as far.
- The gap is widening. The US reading gap between the 90th and 10th percentile grew 50 points since 2015, the largest of any PISA country.
- Reading for fun has collapsed: 14% of 13-year-olds read for fun almost daily, down from 35% in 1984.
US students’ reading scores are at or near their lowest point in decades, on both the national and the international test. On the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 41% of public-school 4th graders and 34% of 8th graders scored below Basic, and average scores fell in both grades. On PISA 2025, released September 8, 2026, American 15-year-olds averaged 490 in reading, down 14 points from 2022. That is a real decline. It is not the same thing as the viral claim that most children “can’t read,” and the difference comes down to what one word, Proficient, means.
This page tabulates the NAEP and PISA numbers, shows state examples, explains the achievement levels in plain terms, and ends with steps parents can take this school year. All figures are in a free CSV.
NAEP 2024: what the Nation’s Report Card shows
NAEP is the only reading test given to a national sample of US students in the same way every time. The 2024 results, released January 29, 2025, covered grades 4 and 8.
| Measure (public schools) | Grade 4 | Grade 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Average score 2024 (scale 0–500) | 214 | 257 |
| Average score 2022 | 216 | 259 |
| Average score 1998 | 213 | 261 |
| Change vs 2019 (all schools, NAGB) | −5 points | −5 points |
| Below NAEP Basic | 41% | 34% |
| At Basic | 29% | 37% |
| At Proficient | 22% | 25% |
| At Advanced | 8% | 4% |
| At or above Proficient | 30% | 29% |
Table 1. NAEP 2024 reading results for the nation’s public schools. Source: NCES 2024 Reading State Snapshot Reports (nation, public). Change vs 2019 from the National Assessment Governing Board.
Counting private schools too, nationsreportcard.gov reports 31% of 4th graders at or above Proficient, 60% at or above Basic and 40% below Basic. The grade 4 below-Basic share has risen from 34% in 2019 and 37% in 2022 (Education Next’s tabulation). The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) found no state improved in either grade compared with 2022, and only Louisiana scored above its 2019 level in 4th grade. “The continued declines in reading scores are particularly troubling,” said Patrick Kelly of NAGB.
Source: NCES, 2024 NAEP Reading State Snapshot Reports, nation (public). Red = below Basic, yellow = Basic, blue = Proficient and Advanced.
12th grade too. NAEP’s 2024 grade 12 results (released September 2025) showed about 32% below Basic, 12 points more than in 1992, and Chalkbeat reported that only students at the 90th percentile avoided declines. About 35% were Proficient, according to an EdChoice analysis (secondary).
Is the “70% can’t read” claim true?
No, not in the way it is usually said, though the real numbers are still worrying. A widely shared political ad in 2026 claimed 70% of Wisconsin students “can’t read at grade level.” We checked it against the source it almost certainly draws on, the NAEP 2024 snapshot for Wisconsin.
- The figure exists. 31% of Wisconsin 4th graders scored at or above NAEP Proficient in 2024, so 69% scored below Proficient.
- The label is wrong. NCES states on its score pages that NAEP Proficient “does not represent grade level proficiency as determined by other assessment standards.” Proficient means “solid academic performance and competency over challenging subject matter.” It is a high bar, set by panels of teachers and experts, and NAEP levels are still officially used on a trial basis.
- The better measure for “can read” is Basic. 61% of Wisconsin 4th graders reached NAEP Basic or higher; 39% did not. “About 4 in 10 Wisconsin 4th graders lack basic reading skills on NAEP” is accurate, and serious enough on its own.
- State tests give a different number again. Wisconsin’s Forward exam put about 48% of students at proficient in English language arts after 2024 cut-score changes (Fox 11 report, secondary), because each state sets its own bar.
The same reasoning applies to the national “two-thirds of kids aren’t proficient” line. Accurate version: roughly 7 in 10 US students score below NAEP Proficient, and about 4 in 10 4th graders score below Basic. If someone says “can’t read,” ask which level they mean. Our percentile rank explainer covers a related trap: a percentile is not a percent correct.
NAEP’s four achievement levels in plain English
NAEP reports four bands, and only the bottom one signals that a child is struggling with grade-appropriate text. The cut scores differ by grade.
| Level | Grade 4 cut score | Grade 8 cut score | What it roughly means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below Basic | under 208 | under 243 | Has not shown partial mastery of grade-level reading skills |
| Basic | 208 | 243 | Partial mastery: can find information and make simple inferences |
| Proficient | 238 | 281 | Solid competency over challenging material; not the same as “grade level” |
| Advanced | 268 | 323 | Superior performance |
Table 2. NAEP reading achievement levels. Cut scores as listed in the Colorado Department of Education’s summary of 2024 NAEP reading; descriptions paraphrase NCES.
Worked example. The national public-school grade 4 average was 214 in 2024. That sits 6 points above the Basic cut of 208 and 24 points below the Proficient cut of 238. In other words, the typical 4th grader is a Basic reader on NAEP’s scale. A 5-point drop since 2019 means the typical student moved closer to the Basic line, and more students fell below it.
PISA 2025 vs 2022: the international picture
PISA tests 15-year-olds, not a grade, and in 2025 reading fell across most of the developed world. About 760,000 students in 91 countries and economies took part; the US sample was more than 4,500 students in 144 schools.
| PISA reading | 2015 | 2022 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 497 (derived) | 504 (derived) | 490 |
| OECD average | 489 (secondary) | n/a here | 461 |
| US rank (of 91 systems) | n/a | n/a | 13th |
Table 3. PISA reading means. The 2025 scores come from OECD figures reported by K-12 Dive and EdWeek; US 2015 and 2022 values are derived from the reported changes (−7 since 2015, −14 since 2022).
Source: OECD PISA 2025 via K-12 Dive (Sept. 8, 2026), EdWeek and WJLA. Bars scaled to 600 points. US 2015 and 2022 derived from reported changes; OECD 2015 from news reports.
Three findings matter for families:
- The drop is about six to seven months of learning, by the OECD’s rule of thumb. Finland fell 16 points; the UK held steady.
- The spread is the widest anywhere. The gap between the US 90th and 10th percentile widened 50 points since 2015. 13% of US students were top performers in reading and 26% were low performers. US Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the country propels its highest achievers while “the lowest-performing students are falling further behind.”
- Treat the US number with care. The OECD cautioned that US school and student participation fell below PISA standards and that it could not rule out bias in either direction.
PISA’s background questionnaire also found about half of students use AI weekly to learn and one in three use it to draft writing, with heavier AI-drafting linked to lower reading scores. That is a correlation; our review of screen time and grades covers what the wider research can and cannot show about devices.
State examples: where reading held up
State results show the national decline isn’t uniform, and a few states have gained a lot over 25 years. All figures are public schools, NAEP 2024 State Snapshot Reports.
| State, grade | 1998 average | 2022 average | 2024 average | At/above Proficient 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi, grade 4 | 203 | 217 | 219 | 32% |
| Louisiana, grade 4 | 200 | 212 | 216 | 32% |
| Wisconsin, grade 4 | 222 | 217 | 215 | 31% |
| Nation (public), grade 4 | 213 | 216 | 214 | 30% |
| Massachusetts, grade 8 | 269 | 269 | 268 | 40% |
| Wisconsin, grade 8 | 265 | 262 | 260 | 31% |
| Nation (public), grade 8 | 261 | 259 | 257 | 29% |
Table 4. NAEP reading, selected states. Mississippi’s 2024 grade 4 average was significantly higher than the nation’s; Wisconsin’s 2024 averages were significantly lower than its 1998 averages.
Mississippi and Louisiana started near the bottom in 1998 and now match or beat the national average in 4th grade. Wisconsin shows the opposite path: above the nation in 1998, now level with it in 4th grade. Milwaukee’s 4th-grade Proficient rate was 9% in 2024 (CBS 58, secondary). Massachusetts scored higher in 8th grade than 47 other states and jurisdictions and lower than only one. State pages on our site: Wisconsin, Louisiana, Massachusetts.
Younger students rebounded, 13-year-olds didn’t
The NAEP Long-Term Trend test, given to 9- and 13-year-olds between October 2024 and March 2025, showed a split result. Nine-year-olds’ reading and math rose compared with 2022, including among lower performers. NCES’s Matthew Soldner called it “an optimistic release.” Thirteen-year-olds showed no significant change, stayed below 2020 and were not different from 1971. NPR’s report gave no point values, so we don’t quote any.
The reading-habit data in the same survey is striking.
Source: NAEP Long-Term Trend, as reported by NPR (via Hawaii Public Radio, June 9, 2026).
For 17-year-olds the most recent figure is from 2012: 19% read for fun almost daily and 27% never or hardly ever did (Pew Research Center, 2021 analysis). The next Long-Term Trend administration is scheduled for 2033, after NAGB cancelled about a dozen assessments through 2032, so these will be the last national habit figures for years.
What parents can do this year
You can’t change a national trend, but reading volume and early checks are in a family’s control. Steps in order of payoff:
- Ask the school for your child’s reading screener or benchmark results, if the school uses one for young readers. Why: a fall score below the benchmark is an early warning, months before state test results arrive. Bring it to your parent-teacher conference.
- Protect 20 minutes of daily reading on paper or a dedicated e-reader. Why: reading for fun has fallen to 14% at age 13, and daily reading time is the part of practice a family controls most directly.
- Listen to your child read aloud once a week for one minute. Why: you will hear guessing, skipped words or slow decoding, the signs that point to phonics gaps rather than motivation.
- Match homework time to grade, then keep reading separate. Our homework time calculator shows the typical nightly load; reading time shouldn’t be squeezed out by worksheets.
- Set rules for AI on writing tasks. Why: PISA 2025 links heavy AI drafting with lower reading scores. Our guide to whether using AI is cheating gives a family-friendly line.
| What you notice | Likely cause | What to try |
|---|---|---|
| Guesses words from the first letter | Decoding (phonics) gap | Ask about structured phonics support; practice decodable texts |
| Reads aloud fine but can’t retell | Comprehension or vocabulary gap | Ask “what happened, why?” after each chapter; read nonfiction together |
| Avoids reading, finishes nothing | Low interest or text too hard | Let the child choose; drop the reading level for fluency practice |
| Grades fine, NAEP-style scores low | Grades and tests measure different things | See our grade inflation research |
Table 5. Reading warning signs at home, with likely causes and first steps.
Phone rules at school can help with focus during the day; the state-by-state picture is in our school phone ban tracker. Study routines that work for older readers are in study methods ranked by research, and more parent guides are on the parents’ hub.
Methodology and limitations
Sources. NAEP public-school figures come from the NCES 2024 Reading State Snapshot Reports (we read the national comparison figures printed in the Wisconsin, Louisiana, Mississippi and Massachusetts reports); all-school figures come from nationsreportcard.gov; trend statements come from NAGB’s January 29, 2025 release. PISA 2025 figures come from OECD results as reported by K-12 Dive, Education Week and WJLA, because the OECD country note was not accessible to us. Everything was opened on October 15, 2026.
Limitations:
- Public vs all schools. Public-school and all-school NAEP figures differ by about a point; we label which is which.
- Derived PISA values. US 2015 (497) and 2022 (504) are computed from the reported score changes; OECD 2015 (489) is from news reports.
- US PISA sample warning. The OECD flagged low US participation; the 2025 US score may be biased.
- Achievement levels are judgments. NAEP levels are set by expert panels and remain in trial status.
- Secondary figures (grade 12 Proficient share, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Forward exam, reading for fun, 2019 and 2022 below-Basic shares) are marked in the text.
- No causal claims. None of these tests can say why scores fell.
Cite this page
The CSV dataset is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with credit to The Homework Site; please also cite NCES and OECD. For broader numbers, see our sourced homework statistics.
Sources
- NCES, 2024 NAEP Reading State Snapshot Reports (public schools): Wisconsin grade 4 nces.ed.gov, Louisiana grade 4 nces.ed.gov, Mississippi grade 4 nces.ed.gov, Massachusetts grade 8 nces.ed.gov, Wisconsin grade 8 nces.ed.gov
- NCES, The Nation’s Report Card, 2024 Reading, national trends: nationsreportcard.gov
- National Assessment Governing Board, “Nation’s Report Card shows decline in reading, progress in math,” Jan. 29, 2025: nagb.gov
- Education Next, NAEP achievement levels analysis: educationnext.org ; Chalkbeat on grade 12, Sept. 9, 2025: chalkbeat.org ; EdChoice: edchoice.org
- K-12 Dive, “From science to screen time: 4 key takeaways from the latest PISA results,” Sept. 8, 2026: k12dive.com ; Education Week on PISA 2025 reading: edweek.org ; WJLA, Sept. 9, 2026: wjla.com
- NPR via Hawaii Public Radio on NAEP Long-Term Trend 2025, June 9, 2026: hawaiipublicradio.org ; Pew Research Center on reading for fun, Nov. 12, 2021: pewresearch.org
- On NAEP Proficient vs grade level: Brookings, “The NAEP proficiency myth” (Tom Loveless): brookings.edu ; NAEP cut scores: Colorado Department of Education, “Summary of facts: 2024 NAEP reading, grades 4 and 8”: cde.state.co.us
- CBS 58 on Milwaukee: cbs58.com ; Fox 11 on Wisconsin’s Forward exam: fox11online.com
Checked October 15, 2026. The next main NAEP reading results are expected in early 2027; we will update this page then.
Frequently asked questions
Is it true that 70% of students can't read at grade level?
What percentage of 4th graders read at a basic level?
How did US students do on PISA 2025 reading?
What does NAEP Proficient mean?
Which states improved in reading?
Are screens the reason reading scores are dropping?
Watch: video explainers
Commentary video that drew wide attention to the "Gen Alpha can't read" debate; compare its claims with the NAEP and PISA numbers on this page.
International news report on the PISA 2025 reading decline and the screen-time debate around it.
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