Are American Children Being Educated Appropriately?

Families, communities, states, and nations are stronger when the rising generation receives proper education. The National Report Card shows that American children are not receiving appropriate education. According to an article by Virginia Allen, Kristen Eichamer, and Crystal Bonham published in The Daily Signal, “The latest National Report Card from the National Assessment of Educational Progress paints an abysmal picture of education across the U.S.”

The report card is published every two years and assesses the average reading and math scores for fourth and eighth graders. The report showed significant declines for students when it was published in 2022, but the decline was somewhat expected in the wake of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the assessment completed in 2024 and published Wednesday shows little to no improvement in students’ math and reading proficiency.

In 2024, just 39% of fourth grade students performed at or above the proficient math level that is set by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. That’s 3 percentage points higher compared with 2022, but 2 percentage points lower than in 2019.

Eighth grade math scores are at 28% proficiency, about the same as 2022 scores, but 8 points lower compared to 2019.

Reading scores showed an even greater decline than those for math.

In 2024, 31% of fourth grade students performed at or above the proficient level on the reading assessment. That’s a 2 percentage point decline compared to 2022 and 4 percentage points lower than 2019, according to the report card.

And 30% of eighth grade students performed at or above the proficient level in 2024, which was not significantly different from 2022, but lower compared with 2019.

The above figures from the National Report Card show that reading scores and math scores of children today are lower than those of 2019. That is terrible because the 2019 math score for fourth graders was only 41% and the 2019 math score for eighth graders was only 36%. Reading scores were worse. The reading score for fourth graders in 2019 was only 35%, and the reading score for eighth graders of 30% for 2024, which was about the same as in 2022 but lower in 2019.

Why is anyone satisfied with such low scores in essential skills like reading and math? In my opinion, no score under 60% should be accepted for anyone. Our children and youth must be able to read and do simple math in order to graduate from high school, and a high school diploma is essential to stay out of poverty.

American education must do better for the rising generation. This report card is good evidence to show that current educational practices are not working. Since education begins in homes, we must strengthen families and homes and then concentrate on properly educating the rising generation. We must have educated citizens for strong families, communities, states, and nations.