Over the past ten-plus years , American students’ academic achievement has experienced a concerning decline . Test scores for students in grades K through 12 are lower than they were a decade ago in school districts across the U.S., according to new data released Wednesday by the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University . Reading scores were down roughly 0.6 grades in 2025 compared to 2015, and math scores were down about 0.4 grades. This means that students were 60% of one school