Test Scores Plummet at Public Schools, Especially for Low-Income Students
How BAD is the U.S. Doing Compared to the Rest of the World?
The Woke agenda is ruining U.S. Schools. A Gateway Pundit article calls this travesty a ‘Five Alarm Fire.’” The sharp decline in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test scores among low-income students is directly linked to the absurd dynamics in socialist, propaganda-pushing schools. It’s time to save our children from indoctrination and start teaching them real subjects that matter.
Since COVID, NAEP Scores Plummet: Our Low-income Students Suffer the Most
If you look at National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores for U.S. students over the past five years (2020–2024) based on income, focusing on grades 4 and 8 in reading and mathematics, you’ll be shocked.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data and related NAEP reports, with additional context from recent analyses, show a decline in reading and math performance for U.S. students in grades 4 and 8, with low-income. Huge drops occurred over the past five years, particularly in reading.
Higher-income (NSLP-not-eligible) students consistently scored higher, maintaining a stable gap of 22–26 points across all subjects.
The most significant declines occurred between 2020 and 2022, attributed to the fake pandemic disruptions, with low-income students’ scores hitting historic lows in 2024. Math scores showed only a slight recovery in grade 4 by 2024, but grade 8 math stagnated, with persistent disparities among students persisting.
Here’s how it breaks down:
NAEP scores are determined based on a 0 to 500 scale for reading and math and tested during grade 4 and 8. Students can test as Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced.
Low-income students (eligible for free or reduced lunch) scored lower in reading and math than higher-income students (not eligible) in grades 4 and 8. Low-income students’ scores dropped more. The gap between the two groups stayed about the same, around 22–26 points. Math scores improved slightly for grade 4 in 2024, but grade 8 math scores didn’t change much.
Scores are sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), NAEP Data Explorer, and recent reports from (Chalkbeat, EdWeek, NPR, NAGB). The chart includes average scores and the score gap between income groups so that you can see a one-for-one comparison. Year 2023 offers little data to support a comparison.
Year
Subject/Grade
NSLP-Eligible (Low-Income)
NSLP-Not-Eligible (Higher-Income)
Score Gap
2020
Grade 4 Reading
209
231
22
Grade 8 Reading
247
271
24
Grade 4 Math
226
248
22
Grade 8 Math
268
294
26
2022
Grade 4 Reading
204
227
23
Grade 8 Reading
243
267
24
Grade 4 Math
221
243
22
Grade 8 Math
260
286
26
2024
Grade 4 Reading
202
225
23
Grade 8 Reading
241
265
24
Grade 4 Math
223
245
22
Grade 8 Math
260
286
26
How is the U.S. Doing Compared to the Rest of the World?
While U.S. educators are pushing DEI (cultural Marxism), trans ideology, and other Woke nonsense, our students are falling behind and can’t compete globally.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), ranks 15-year-olds’ performance in math, reading, and science, and we’re not doing so well.
In 2022, the U.S. ranked 26th out of 81 countries in math (our score was, 465, below the average of 472), 12th in reading (our score was 504, above the average of 476), and 16th in science (our score was 499, slightly above the OECD average of 485).
Among Western countries here are comparative rankings:
Finland ranked 8th in math, 3rd in reading, and 5th in science.
Canada ranked 7th in math, 4th in reading, and 6th in science.
Germany and the UK outperformed the U.S. in math, though the U.S. held a slight edge in reading over Germany.
The U.S. lags behind many Western peers, particularly in math, where countries like Finland and Canada emphasize rigorous, standardized curricula. Who has time to teach math, reading, and science when your classroom looks like this, and you’re worried about your students using the proper pronouns to address you?
The U.S.’s stronger reading performance may be holding on tenuously, but without change, it won’t last. Low-income U.S. students, who often attend underfunded schools, face amplified challenges. The NAEP data shows they’re flailing next to their wealthier peers, and that doesn’t even account for data about homeschooled children who fare better than both groups.
Go Woke, Go Broke, Even in Education
Woke ideological shifts in the American education system are causing a rapid decline in test scores, with low-income students suffering the most.
“Woke Kindergarten” is a perfect example of how we’re failing our next generations. The U.S.’s middling PISA rankings compared to Western countries like Finland and Canada underscore the need for restored academic rigor.
We need evidence-based curricula, discipline, and school choice so that underprivileged kids can get the same opportunities to learn from non-Woke teachers that children who are homeschooled or go to private schools do. Without drastic change, we’re leaving an entire swath of the population vulnerable and uneducated. We can save the “lost generation.” We just have to rescue them from the salivating maw of the Woke beast.
I don't thing the weight on failing schools are due to under funded schools as much as the responsibility parents have to take themselves bc as much resources schools have, parents are responsible to monitor and help those children at home and see the areas they need the help and do it, believing that is all school responsibility to teach and raise our kids will never work no matter how much resources public schools have. I know that by experience. Parents of Chinese or Indian children make sure their kids succeed bc it is the only way to , helping them and push them, not bc they are smarter than our kids.
The reliance of tech/Chromebook’s/iPads/cellphones in the classroom is not helping the situation either. It’s all a distraction and does not improve academic outcomes. Go back to old school textbooks and writing, scores would improve! No one learns well by skimming a screen and keyboarding.