Reading test score declines began in 2019, exacerbated due to pandemic-related setbacks and have continued to slide because of the nation's "complex challenges in reading," said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, at a news conference Tuesday.

Pennsylvania public schools still may be grappling with the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, according to a national report on reading and math proficiency among fourth grade and eighth grade students.

Reading scores declined between 2022 and 2024 for students in Austin and across U.S., according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

The nation's young people scored an average 5 points lower in reading than kids who tested before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, from 220 to 215 for fourth graders and from 263 to 258 for eighth graders.