Education Scorecard<\/a> project. Overall, they found U.S. students remain nearly half a grade level behind pre-pandemic reading levels, reflecting a long-running \u201creading recession\u201d worsened by the pandemic.<\/p>\nStudents across the country are tested annually on math and reading to measure how well they are learning foundational skills that schools, states and policymakers consider essential for academic success and future employment.<\/p>\n
According to the report, Ocean City schools are in a good state. Not only are test scores higher than the U.S. average, learning rates are faster and improving, and test scores are also improving.<\/p>\n
Researchers found that only five states and the District of Columbia posted significant gains in reading between 2022 and 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pandemic was the mudslide that had followed seven years of steady erosion in achievement,\u201d Thomas Kane, a Harvard professor involved in the project,\u201d told The Associated Press<\/p>\n
Reading scores have been declining nationally since 2013 for eighth graders and 2015 for fourth graders, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Researchers point to several possible causes, including increased smartphone and social media use and reduced recreational reading.<\/p>\n
Still, the report identified signs of improvement in some states and districts, particularly those adopting phonics-based instruction known as the \u201cscience of reading.\u201d <\/p>\n
Louisiana, Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana all implemented statewide reading reforms emphasizing phonics and additional support for struggling students.<\/p>\n
In Modesto, California, schools revamped reading instruction during the pandemic and expanded teacher training programs. The district paid educators to complete specialized literacy training and created a department focused on students learning English. Researchers said Modesto students gained the equivalent of 13 extra weeks of learning in reading and 18 weeks in math compared with similar districts.<\/p>\n
Math scores showed broader improvement nationwide. Nearly every state analyzed recorded gains in math from 2022 to 2025, and absenteeism declined in most states.<\/p>\n
Detroit also emerged as a bright spot, with district leaders crediting both literacy reforms and efforts to improve attendance. A 2016 lawsuit over school conditions led to a $94 million settlement that funded additional reading support staff and attendance outreach programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt allows us to be better educators to see kids consistently in the seat instead of once or twice a week,\u201d Detroit teacher Samantha Ciaffone told The AP.<\/p>\n
Southern states stood out in the analysis for sustained academic gains. Louisiana was the only state to surpass its pre-pandemic reading average, while Louisiana and Alabama were the only states where math scores exceeded 2019 levels. Alabama lawmakers credited statewide phonics instruction and new math reforms for the improvements.<\/p>\n
Researchers said the gains demonstrate that recovery is possible despite continuing national challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made enormous progress as a country in terms of educational success from over a 30-year period,\u201d Stanford professor Sean Reardon told The AP. \u201cAs a country, we can improve education and educational opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00bb See how other districts performed<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe Associated Press contributed reporting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OCEAN CITY, NJ \u2014 Test scores in the Ocean City School District are above the U.S. average, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-195117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}