{"id":5232,"date":"2025-09-09T08:27:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T08:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/?p=5232"},"modified":"2025-09-09T08:27:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T08:27:49","slug":"historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic Drop in U.S. Student Performance as NAEP Reveals Widening Gaps"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><b>Key Takeaways<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nation\u2019s Report Card shows steep declines in 12th grade math and reading, and 8th grade science.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nearly half of high school seniors are performing below basic benchmarks in core skills.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Secretary Linda McMahon calls for state-led education reforms, while experts point to absenteeism, pandemic effects, and instructional shifts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Widening achievement gaps highlight challenges for both students and teachers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Findings highlight the need for strong preparation for both high school equivalency learners and future teachers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nces.ed.gov\/nationsreportcard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, also known as the Nation\u2019s Report Card, reveals significant drops in student achievement across the United States. Twelfth-grade reading and math scores fell to their lowest levels in more than two decades, while eighth-grade science results also declined, wiping out years of progress.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Troubling Trends in Reading, Math, and Science<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The National Center for Education Statistics reported that only 35% of seniors reached the preparedness benchmark in reading and 33% in math. More students than ever before scored below NAEP\u2019s \u201cbasic\u201d threshold, raising concerns about whether graduates are equipped for college, careers, or the military.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For many who turn to alternatives like the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/courses\/ged-test-prep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b> GED exam<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the results underline just how critical it is to master foundational skills in literacy and numeracy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThese results should galvanize all of us to take concerted, focused action to accelerate student learning,\u201d said Matthew Soldner, NCES acting commissioner. He noted that chronic absenteeism has also worsened\u201431% of seniors reported missing three or more days in a single month, compared with 26% in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Find Out: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/ged\/can-you-join-the-military-with-a-ged\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Can You Join The Military With A GED?<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>McMahon Calls for State Control<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Education Secretary Linda McMahon described the scores as evidence of a \u201cdevastating trend.\u201d She argued that spending alone is not the solution. \u201cSuccess isn\u2019t about how much money we spend, but who controls the money and where that money is invested,\u201d McMahon said, reiterating her commitment to return more decision-making power to states.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Wider Gaps and Broader Concerns<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Experts warn that the declines reflect more than pandemic disruptions. Changes in reading instruction, fewer full-length texts in classrooms, and the loss of specialized STEM initiatives have contributed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, said seniors are leaving school \u201cwith fewer skills and less knowledge in core academics than their predecessors a decade ago.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For educators, the findings also carry weight. Future teachers preparing for licensure through the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/praxis-prep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <b>Praxis exams<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will need to understand how to support struggling students, close achievement gaps, and adapt instruction to rebuild learning stamina.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Also in the news:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/anz-to-cut-3500-jobs-under-new-ceo-matos-in-a560-million-overhaul\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ANZ to Cut 3,500 Jobs Under New CEO Matos in A$560 Million Overhaul<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/ged\/how-to-pass-the-ged-math-test\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to Pass the GED Math Test<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Nation\u2019s Report Card shows steep declines in 12th grade math and reading, and 8th grade science. Nearly half of high school seniors are performing below basic benchmarks in core skills. Secretary Linda McMahon calls for state-led education reforms, while experts point to absenteeism, pandemic effects, and instructional shifts. Widening achievement gaps highlight challenges [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[330],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.4 (Yoast SEO v25.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Historic Drop in U.S. Student Performance as NAEP Reveals Widening Gaps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nation\u2019s Report Card reveals record drops in student scores. McMahon urges urgent reforms to boost literacy and math skills.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Historic Drop in U.S. Student Performance as NAEP Reveals Widening Gaps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nation\u2019s Report Card reveals record drops in student scores. McMahon urges urgent reforms to boost literacy and math skills.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"prepsaret.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-09T08:27:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Historic-Drop-in-U.S.-Student-Performance-as-NAEP-Reveals-Widening-Gaps.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dorcas Srange\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dorcas Srange\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/\",\"name\":\"Historic Drop in U.S. Student Performance as NAEP Reveals Widening Gaps\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Historic-Drop-in-U.S.-Student-Performance-as-NAEP-Reveals-Widening-Gaps.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-09T08:27:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/783ca927f42ed6ad7720d777f70fe79a\"},\"description\":\"Nation\u2019s Report Card reveals record drops in student scores. McMahon urges urgent reforms to boost literacy and math skills.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Historic-Drop-in-U.S.-Student-Performance-as-NAEP-Reveals-Widening-Gaps.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Historic-Drop-in-U.S.-Student-Performance-as-NAEP-Reveals-Widening-Gaps.png\",\"width\":900,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Historic Drop in U.S. Student Performance as NAEP Reveals Widening Gaps\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Historic Drop in U.S. Student Performance as NAEP Reveals Widening Gaps\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"prepsaret.com\",\"description\":\"One Time Pass Guaranteed on your news Test\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/783ca927f42ed6ad7720d777f70fe79a\",\"name\":\"Dorcas Srange\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e3a76c1e9effab3a7f411673ce09d02d41b20461b022565382d1f3560ecc58a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e3a76c1e9effab3a7f411673ce09d02d41b20461b022565382d1f3560ecc58a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dorcas Srange\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Historic Drop in U.S. Student Performance as NAEP Reveals Widening Gaps","description":"Nation\u2019s Report Card reveals record drops in student scores. McMahon urges urgent reforms to boost literacy and math skills.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Historic Drop in U.S. Student Performance as NAEP Reveals Widening Gaps","og_description":"Nation\u2019s Report Card reveals record drops in student scores. McMahon urges urgent reforms to boost literacy and math skills.","og_url":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/","og_site_name":"prepsaret.com","article_published_time":"2025-09-09T08:27:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Historic-Drop-in-U.S.-Student-Performance-as-NAEP-Reveals-Widening-Gaps.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Dorcas Srange","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dorcas Srange","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/","url":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/","name":"Historic Drop in U.S. Student Performance as NAEP Reveals Widening Gaps","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Historic-Drop-in-U.S.-Student-Performance-as-NAEP-Reveals-Widening-Gaps.png","datePublished":"2025-09-09T08:27:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/783ca927f42ed6ad7720d777f70fe79a"},"description":"Nation\u2019s Report Card reveals record drops in student scores. McMahon urges urgent reforms to boost literacy and math skills.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Historic-Drop-in-U.S.-Student-Performance-as-NAEP-Reveals-Widening-Gaps.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Historic-Drop-in-U.S.-Student-Performance-as-NAEP-Reveals-Widening-Gaps.png","width":900,"height":500,"caption":"Historic Drop in U.S. Student Performance as NAEP Reveals Widening Gaps"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/historic-drop-in-u-s-student-performance-as-naep-reveals-widening-gaps\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Historic Drop in U.S. Student Performance as NAEP Reveals Widening Gaps"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/","name":"prepsaret.com","description":"One Time Pass Guaranteed on your news Test","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/783ca927f42ed6ad7720d777f70fe79a","name":"Dorcas Srange","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e3a76c1e9effab3a7f411673ce09d02d41b20461b022565382d1f3560ecc58a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e3a76c1e9effab3a7f411673ce09d02d41b20461b022565382d1f3560ecc58a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dorcas Srange"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5235,"href":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5232\/revisions\/5235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}