Lost Debate Are We Getting Stupider?
Dec 18, 2025
Andrew Rice, journalist and author who reported on U.S. education policy, discusses alarming national declines in reading and math. He explores how falling standards, weakened accountability, and political complacency erased past gains. They examine affluent districts’ de-leveling, debates over testing, and why lowering expectations has become common instead of real reform.
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Sharp National Decline In Achievement
- National student achievement has fallen sharply on NAEP tests, with about a third of eighth graders scoring below basic in reading.
- The pandemic accelerated declines but the downward trend began earlier, erasing decades of prior gains.
Prior Gains Have Been Reversed
- From late 1990s to 2015 test scores rose, especially for low-performing students, narrowing achievement gaps.
- Recent years have reversed those gains, with the bottom percentiles falling the most.
Bipartisan Consensus Fragmented
- Political backlash fractured the centrist reform consensus: testing and accountability became unpopular on the left and choice moved on the right.
- That realignment undermined bipartisan pressure that had driven earlier improvements.