【By Observer Net, Xiong Chaoran】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 the reading scores of high school graduates across the country were the worst in 30 years, while math scores hit their lowest level since 2005.
On the afternoon of September 25, the New York Times published an article focusing on this result, trying to explore what it means for the U.S. 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 compensate 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 institutions such as Texas State Technical College, more students need to take basic math courses outside of university courses to prepare for jobs in welding, heating and air conditioning, and manufacturing.
At some selective four-year universities, professors complain about the decline in students' reading and writing abilities. The New York Times warned that this is a worrying signal for teenagers, as they face an uncertain job market and the information challenges brought by artificial intelligence (AI). Especially in today's era of widespread 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 U.S. Secretary of Education during President Bush's term and is currently the director of the Bipartisan Policy Center, said that the decline in student performance is "an economic crisis threatening American labor force and national competitiveness."
Spellings also believed that the latest NAEP results raised questions about the priorities of the Trump administration. "The current discussion in Washington distracts us from our 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."
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 32% of U.S. high school students scored below the "basic" level in reading in 2024. NAEP report screenshot
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 45% of U.S. high school students scored below the "basic" level in mathematics in 2024. NAEP report screenshot
"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 professor of humanities at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
The average SAT score of the students at this school ranges from 1440 to 1520. However, recently, one of Sarma's students was intimidated by an academic article that was too obscure.
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 younger generations spending more time in front of electronic screens, especially low-scoring students, whose performance has been declining over the past decade.
In addition to the far-reaching impact of reading ability on a generation of students, the U.S. math level ranking is currently "28th in the world," behind Japan, Canada, the UK, Germany, and almost all other major industrialized countries.
Observer Net noticed that the ranking data 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 of 15-year-old students in various countries and regions. In the latest 2022 assessment, the U.S. ranked 28th in math 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 2018, which 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.
OECD PISA test results 2018 Report screenshot
"In terms of talent, the U.S. is like a frog in warm water," said Jamie Merisotis, CEO of the Lumina Foundation, which focuses on higher education and workforce credentialing. Because the U.S. economy is large and diversified, "it is difficult to realize when other countries catch up."
Top-performing countries not only surpass the U.S. in competition among the most outstanding students but also enable more students to reach basic skill levels. Some experts believe this is increasingly important in today's world where AI is becoming more prevalent.
"AI can write the first draft of a memo or solve a math problem," Merisotis emphasized: "but staff must understand what they read, ensure its accuracy, and decide what to do next."
Therefore, some employers and industry leaders believe that basic reading and math skills are essential in various jobs, from medical personnel calculating drug dosages and recording patient care, to truck drivers navigating highways.
For example, even ordinary drivers must be able to calculate the load capacity of trucks and estimate driving distances to avoid exceeding federal road hours limits; and ordinary employees in communication companies must have basic math skills to handle customer bills, packages, and rates.
Cledia Hernandez, vice president of Texas State Technical College, said the college is trying to emphasize the importance of academic knowledge for every occupation, such as fractions being indispensable in pipe assembly because work may be precise to the "sixteenth of an inch" of the pipe.
Of course, some employers care more about the actual skills and safety experience of their employees rather than test scores. "This is a highly specialized industry that requires a lot of experience," said Jackie Roskos, head of the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Foundation: "Frankly, this industry cares less about test scores than any other industry. It's not because they can't read or do math."
However, experts say that many workers are limited once they want to move into higher-paying positions. "Yes, you might be able to find an entry-level warehouse job with limited math and reading skills. But then what? Who will help this person?" said Jeff Bulanda, vice president of the Career Navigation Center at Jobs for the Future, a nonprofit organization.
"Employers now have to step in," he said: "because our education system has failed."
On April 23, 2025, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon watched President Trump sign an executive order in the White House Oval Office, which involved multiple aspects of education. Visual China
As the largest "employer" in the United States, the military also noticed that the scores of its armed forces qualification exams are declining and is working on its own training. A Pentagon official said that the Army and Navy offer academic preparation courses aimed at helping lower-scoring new recruits gain broader military job qualifications.
The New York Times pointed out that across the United States, neither Republicans nor Democrats show 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.
During the Biden administration, the federal government invested $12.2 billion in education for post-pandemic recovery, which is one of the largest educational investments in history, but this had little effect on improving overall student performance, partly because the policy only required districts to use 20% of the funds for academic remediation.
Since Trump returned to the White House, he has pressured major universities across the U.S. by cutting federal financial support, asking many universities to combat "anti-Semitism and ideological indoctrination." This move has alarmed many universities, and some educators have even started talking about the "China threat," trying to persuade Trump by citing "Sino-U.S. competition."
The New York Times reported on April 9 this year that the Trump administration had specifically named seven U.S. universities, including Harvard University, and announced that these universities' funding might be cut, with dozens of other universities under review. The Board of Directors of the American Council on Education immediately issued a statement, stating that the U.S. "cannot stop in the competition with China," and urged the Trump administration not to cut university funding.
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