NC, US Students are in a ‘Reading Recession’ as Test Scores Decline

New test score data shows students in North Carolina — and across the country — are still struggling with reading, and experts are calling it a “reading recession.” While math scores are starting to bounce back after the pandemic, reading scores continue to lag behind. Researchers say the problem goes beyond COVID and has been building for years, with issues like chronic absenteeism, less recreational reading, and changes in how reading has been taught all playing a role.

In North Carolina, students have made some of the biggest gains in math nationwide since 2022, but reading progress has been much slower. Educators say efforts to improve reading instruction using phonics and the “science of reading” are still relatively new, so it may take more time to see major results in the classroom.