Media Worry: American Students' Reading and Math Skills Are Generally Poor, Even AI Can't Cope

For a long time, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has been considered the most reliable and authoritative exam in the United States. In early September this year, the latest test data released by the federal government showed that high school graduates nationwide scored the worst in reading in 30 years, while their math scores reached the lowest level since 2005.

On September 25 local time, the New York Times in the United States published an article around this result, trying to explore what it means for the American labor market. The report pointed out that since 2019, the math and reading abilities of K12 students (equivalent to senior high school students in China) have significantly declined, and this impact is now evident in universities and the labor market.

To make up for the shortcomings in basic education, employers and universities in the United States are trying to improve the basic skills of young job seekers and students through additional training. At two-year colleges such as Texas State Technical College, more students need to take basic math courses outside of university courses to prepare for careers in welding, heating and air conditioning, and manufacturing.

In some selective four-year universities, professors complain about the decline in students' reading and writing skills. The New York Times warned that this is a worrying signal for teenagers, as they face an uncertain job market and information challenges brought by artificial intelligence (AI). Especially with the increasing popularity of AI, people need to understand what they read, ensure its accuracy, and decide what to do next.

Linda McMahon, the U.S. Secretary of Education, believes that the latest NAEP results confirm a "concerning trend." Margaret Spellings, who served as the Secretary of Education during President Bush's administration and is currently the director of the Bipartisan Policy Center, said that the decline in student performance is "an economic crisis threatening America's workforce and national competitiveness."

Spellings also believes that the latest NAEP results have raised questions about the priorities of the Trump administration. "The current discussions in Washington distract us and prevent us from focusing on the top priority: better preparing students. Now is not the best time to talk about closing the Department of Education. When your house is on fire, you don't talk about renovation."

"My students now graduate from high school without the ability to read a 25-page article, they don't know how to read," said Deepak Sarma, a humanities professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.

The average SAT (the so-called "American Gaokao") scores of students at this school range from 1440 to 1520. However, Sarma recently tutored a student who was intimidated by the complexity of an academic article.

The report states that this can be partially attributed to the pandemic and the school closures during that period, but it also reflects broader social changes, with young people spending more time in front of electronic screens, especially low-scoring students, whose scores have been declining steadily over the past decade.

Aside from the profound impact of reading ability on a generation of students, the U.S. economy, and the entire country, the current mathematical level of the U.S. ranks "28th in the world," lagging behind Japan, Canada, the UK, Germany, and almost all other major industrialized countries.

Observers noted that the ranking mentioned by the New York Times comes from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), organized by the OECD, which evaluates the mathematical, scientific, and reading comprehension levels and abilities of 15-year-old students in various countries and regions. In the latest 2022 test, the U.S. students ranked 28th in mathematics among OECD countries. However, this ranking does not include China, and the New York Times did not mention China in this report on national competitiveness.

Searching for the PISA results from the earlier 2018 test, it included the scores of students from four Chinese regions (Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang). The report shows that Chinese 15-year-olds ranked first in mathematical ability, while the U.S. ranked 25th. In fact, in this report, Chinese students also ranked first in reading and science abilities. (Figure 3)

Top-performing countries not only surpass the U.S. in competition among the top students, but also enable more students to reach basic skill levels. Some experts believe that this is increasingly important in today's AI-driven world.

"AI can draft a memo or solve a math problem," emphasized Merisotis: "But employees must understand what they read, ensure its accuracy, and decide what to do next."

As the largest "employer" in the U.S., the military also noticed that the scores of its armed forces qualification exams are declining and is taking steps to conduct its own training. A Pentagon official stated that the Army and Navy offer academic preparation courses to help new recruits with lower test scores gain broader military job qualifications.

The New York Times pointed out that across the United States, neither Republicans nor Democrats have shown significant political will to improve student performance. Republicans focus on providing parents with more educational choices, including helping families pay for private schools or homeschooling; Democrats invest political capital into what they consider the root problems of school challenges, such as poverty and mental health.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1844519029402634/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.