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High school test scores hit record lows
High school test scores hit record lows
OAKLAND, Calif. - Test scores for grade school students are falling, according to a new report that measures the state of the nation's schools and education.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, suggests scores for the lowest performing students are getting worse.
Billed as the "nation's report card," the scores are especially bad for the lowest performing students in 12th grade math and reading as well as 8th grade science.
Some of those scores are the lowest in 20 years.
In California, 8th and 4th grade math were significantly under the national average. Reading at those same grade levels were about even. There is no recent data in California for science and writing.
These results were administered to a sample size group between January and March 2024.
Experts say the decline is a trend in education stretching back 10 years, well before the COVID19 pandemic.
U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon released a video statement on Tuesday reacting to the new report.
"That's why President Trump and I are committed to reversing course, and returning control of education to the states, so that local communities with parents in the drivers' seat can better innovate, adapt and tailor education to their students' needs," she said.
These results are the first since Trump made cuts to the U.S. Department of Education.
Those exams were taken before then.
Those cuts included laying off workers from the Institute of Education Sciences, which oversees these test scores.