This article appears to tell a compelling story, but looking closer at the cited evidence, I don't see support for that story; it looks more like reading test scores have been mostly static, or have changed slightly due to how the test is administered. For example, here's a claim from the article:
> Test scores from NAEP, short for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, released this year show that 33 percent of eighth graders are reading at a level that is “below basic”—meaning that they struggle to follow the order of events in a passage or to even summarize its main idea. That is the highest share of students unable to meaningfully read since 1992.
However, looking the NAEP report card, they say reading scores in 2024 are not significantly different from 1992, i.e. test scores stayed roughly the same, both for grade 4 and grade 8.
For 4th graders, the average reading score went 217 (1992), 220 (2019), and 215 (2024).
For 8th graders, the average reading score went 260 (1992), 263 (2019), and 258 (2024).
In fact they state explicitly that there is no statistically significant difference in reading scores between 1992 and 2024.
> Compared to the first reading assessment in 1992, the average score was not significantly different in 2024.
Furthermore, the test was re-designed in 2004 to allow more students with disabilities to take the test:
> In addition, since 1996, main NAEP assessments have been providing accommodations to allow more students with disabilities and students who were not fluent in English to participate. Traditionally, the long-term trend assessments have not provided such accommodations. However, in 2004, it was possible to provide accommodations and assess a greater proportion of students.
This would suggest that the decline in scores for the lowest-performing students
is due to ESL students or those with disabilities having greater access.
The idea that literacy rates are basically the same as they were in the 1990s
is not as exciting or eye-catching as "America Is Sliding Toward Illiteracy",
but it seems better supported by the actual data.
> Test scores from NAEP, short for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, released this year show that 33 percent of eighth graders are reading at a level that is “below basic”—meaning that they struggle to follow the order of events in a passage or to even summarize its main idea. That is the highest share of students unable to meaningfully read since 1992.
However, looking the NAEP report card, they say reading scores in 2024 are not significantly different from 1992, i.e. test scores stayed roughly the same, both for grade 4 and grade 8. For 4th graders, the average reading score went 217 (1992), 220 (2019), and 215 (2024). For 8th graders, the average reading score went 260 (1992), 263 (2019), and 258 (2024). In fact they state explicitly that there is no statistically significant difference in reading scores between 1992 and 2024.
> Compared to the first reading assessment in 1992, the average score was not significantly different in 2024.
https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/reading/2024/g4_8/...
Furthermore, the test was re-designed in 2004 to allow more students with disabilities to take the test:
> In addition, since 1996, main NAEP assessments have been providing accommodations to allow more students with disabilities and students who were not fluent in English to participate. Traditionally, the long-term trend assessments have not provided such accommodations. However, in 2004, it was possible to provide accommodations and assess a greater proportion of students.
https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ltt/bridge_study.aspx
This would suggest that the decline in scores for the lowest-performing students is due to ESL students or those with disabilities having greater access.
The idea that literacy rates are basically the same as they were in the 1990s is not as exciting or eye-catching as "America Is Sliding Toward Illiteracy", but it seems better supported by the actual data.