New student performance data is raising alarm bells nationally and Utah is no exception. Two years ago Utah was heralded as a bright spot in the Nation’s Report Card following the pandemic. The latest numbers now show stagnant scores and a drop in eighth grade reading.
“The drop in eighth grade reading scores is part of a broader national trend,” said Sydnee Dickson, the Utah state superintendent of public instruction, in a statement. “More children are falling below the proficient level, underscoring the critical need to double down on effective reading interventions and support for our students.”
The National Assessment of Educational Progress is the country’s largest nationally representative test of student performance. Math and reading tests are given every two years to a sample of fourth and eighth grade students.
About 2,000 Utah students took the test in 2024, according to the Utah State Board of Education. Eighth grade reading scores fell by four points compared to 2022. And there were no significant changes in eighth grade math or fourth grade reading and math scores. Overall, the scores were lower than in 2019.
Still, Utah students outperformed the national averages in all four areas. That has often been the case over the last couple of decades.
Reading scores nationally went down for fourth and eighth graders compared to 2022, continuing the drop from 2019. The results were a bit more hopeful in math. In fourth grade, average scores increased slightly. In eighth grade, they stayed steady compared to 2022, although that’s still cause for concern since that grade saw a historic 8-point drop in math that year. In both grades, math scores are still below pre-pandemic levels.
The National Assessment Governing Board says no state surpassed its 2019 eighth grade scores in either subject. Louisiana and Alabama were the only states to see some improvement compared to 2019 in fourth grade, but not in both subjects.
"Student academic achievement is the cornerstone of national success and security,” governing board member and South Carolina teacher Patrick Kelly said in a statement.
“The continued declines in reading scores are particularly troubling. Reading is foundational to all subjects, and failure to read well keeps students from accessing information and building knowledge across content areas."
While all of the children who took the test were impacted by the pandemic to some extent, education experts told NPR the poor results can’t solely be attributed to COVID-19. Some scores started falling or stagnating before then and the pandemic just exacerbated things.
What is especially concerning to the national board is the performance gap between certain students. Across both grades and subjects, the board said the declines were driven by a growing gap between high- and low-performing students. About a third of eighth graders nationwide failed to hit the basic benchmark in reading, which the board said is the largest percentage ever. That means they likely can’t determine the meanings of words using context or identify basic literary elements, like main ideas or character traits.
In Utah, the percentage of students hitting basic or proficient benchmarks did not statistically change since 2022. But compared to 1998, a smaller percentage of eighth grade students are hitting the basic reading benchmark. These benchmarks are not the same as the state’s definition of grade level proficiency.
There are also gaps between certain demographics in Utah that have either stayed the same or widened over the last 20 years.
Hispanic students scored lower than white students in both grades and subjects. That gap is about the same as it was over two decades ago. In 2024, male students scored lower than female students in reading in both grades. Male students had a higher average score than females in fourth grade math and that gap has widened since 2000. Economically disadvantaged students also scored lower than other students in both grades and subjects. That gap has widened since 1998 in fourth grade reading.
The Utah State Board of Education said they are continuing to identify the underlying causes for the decline in eighth grade reading scores. While the state worked hard in recent years to improve reading education, it's been almost exclusively focused on young students.
“Our focus is on ensuring measurable improvements in reading outcomes by working with schools to equip educators and students with tools and targeted training,” Darin Nielsen, the state’s deputy superintendent of student learning, said in a statement.
He reiterated the state’s commitment to evidence-based reading programs, providing support where it’s needed most and tracking the progress of student success.
In response to the scores, the U.S. Department of Education said in a statement that the “NAEP results reveal a heartbreaking reality for American students and confirm our worst fears: not only did most students not recover from pandemic-related learning loss, but those students who were the most behind and needed the most support have fallen even further behind.”
The statement also says the education system continues to fail students despite the billions of dollars the federal government invests in K-12 education.
It added that “the Trump Administration is committed to reorienting our education system to fully empower states, to prioritize meaningful learning, and provide universal access to high-quality instruction. Change must happen, and it must happen now.”
