Amid reports of plummeting test scores, new research finds that the percentage of students who report that they read for fun has reached a record low, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
The group found the average reading scores for 13-year-olds declined by four points and while math was down nine points compared to NAEP‘s previous assessment during the 2019-2020 school year.
Only 14% of students reported reading for fun almost daily, a decrease of 3% from 2020 and 13% lower than in 2012. The year 2023 recorded the lowest percentage of students who reported that they read for fun almost every day than all previous assessment years. In 1984, 35% of students reported reading for fun almost daily.
Reading scores were lower for both males and females and students eligible and across socio economic groups.
It’s not just reading and math abilities that are falling, another NAEP assessment released in May of this year found that U.S. History and Civics test scores declined for eighth-grade students nationwide. Eighth-grade scores for U.S. History fell by five points. In civics, the students score decreased by three points since 2018.
Education experts say the results are more indicators of the harm caused by the covid lockdowns in 2019 and 2020.