This summer, the nation received the kind of news it is not used to: apparent improvements in test scores. Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress’s long-term trend assessments (NAEP LTT) released in June showed that nine-year-olds’ scores in 2025 improved substantially in both reading and math. Might these scores mark the beginning of a new era in U.S. education?

We can always hope, but a careful look at the test-score patterns over the past 15 years suggests otherwise. During the 1990s and 2000s, U.S. student achievement increased steadily. After 2013, however, test scores started declining, and during the pandemic, …

Read more at National Review.