U.S. students continue to face a 'reading recession,' according to a national Education Scorecard analysis by researchers at Harvard, Stanford, and Dartmouth. The study examined state test scores from third to eighth grades across 5,000 school districts in 38 states.
Key Takeaways
U.S. students continue to struggle with reading scores nationwide, marking what researchers call a 'reading recession' that predates the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some states and school districts have seen improvements by adopting phonics-based instruction methods.
- Nationally, students remain nearly half a grade level behind pre-pandemic reading scores but show slight improvement in math.
- Only five states plus Washington D.C. experienced meaningful growth in reading test scores from 2022 to 2025.
- Phonics-based instruction and extra support for struggling readers are key factors in the progress seen in some areas like Modesto, California; Compton Unified School District; and Baltimore City Public Schools.
- Math scores have improved across most states, with significant gains in student attendance also reported.
The findings reveal that only five states—Louisiana, Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana—and Washington D.C. have shown meaningful growth in reading test scores from 2022 to 2025. Nationally, students remain nearly half a grade level behind pre-pandemic reading levels and slightly better in math.
Despite the overall decline, some school districts like Modesto City Elementary School District in California have seen significant improvements by adopting phonics-based instruction methods known as the 'science of reading.' According to CBS News, Modesto's test scores grew enough to represent an extra 18 weeks of learning in math and 13 weeks in reading. Similar progress has been observed in Compton Unified School District and Los Angeles Unified School District.
Researchers attribute the success of these districts to their focus on phonics-based instruction, which involves teaching students to sound out words rather than guessing based on context clues. This approach aligns with decades of research about how children learn to read effectively.
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