US Reading Scores Take a Dive

Another view ...

Teen reading slumps to worst this century due to surge in screen time
www.reuters.com

...Teenagers more accustomed to smartphones than Shakespeare are reading at the worst levels seen this century, driving a broader decline in education, a global student assessment found.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's 2025 test of 760,000 15-year-olds across 91 countries showed reading, mathematics and science scores at their lowest levels since data began to be collected in 2000. ...

Posted by oneironaut

You're a ------- retarded idiot.

#1 | POSTED BY LAMPLIGHTER

Doesn't explain why the US dropped so far, as screen time hasn't decreased or increased.

Worldwide, the average person spends a total of 6 hours and 37 minutes looking at a screen each day (for internet-connected activities). The average American spends 7 hours looking at a screen each day. According to data from DataReportal, the average American spends 6 hours and 59 minutes looking at a screen every day.
www.crossrivertherapy.com

Are teenagers growing dimmer?

Every three years the oecd, a club mostly of rich countries, releases the results of international school tests sat by 15-year-olds all across the world. There were reasons to hope that the latest data, published on September 8th, would bring positive news. Marks in mathematics, reading and science had collapsed in the previous round of testing, which was carried out just after the pandemic.
www.economist.com

Screen time isn't the issue, you'd be a fool to propaganda to think its just screen time. The point of saying "screen time" is to put fear in people about computers, phones and its utility.

It's what they are doing with their screen time, over time they are doing less and less structured thinking.
A Short video, notifications, algorithmic feeds, constant task-switching, reduced long-form reading, less boredom, less unstructured thought.

It doesn't have to be this way its not screen time, but the apps they use.

"A Short video, notifications, algorithmic feeds, constant task-switching, reduced long-form reading, less boredom, less unstructured thought."

Excellent summation, and excellent point.

The better the edumacation, the more a person votes Dem.

Republicans, well aware of that fact, deliberately do what they can to limit education.

Thank God my kids developed solid reading habits very young and attended private school.

The South is dragging down the averages according to the data.

You know, the states that spend the lowest per student and spend that money on the largest football stadiums.

T-he South is dragging down the averages according to the data.

I'm sure that's true but I couldn't find that in the article nor the embedded results link.

and yes...the worst performers drag down the average.

That's how all averages work........you understand that, right?

because we can point to all groups that drag down the average

inner cities
minorities
public schools

" we can point to all groups that drag down the average
inner cities
minorities
public schools"

You're right. But all states have those groups.

Red states still rate worst.

It's not the end of the world (well, it is for the underperformers) that we have below average performers.

All the underperformers deserve attention to improve their performance.

And that's been the goal of some...but unfortunately folks in those communities don't give a ----.

Syco is right.......school districts approve funding for expensive football stadiums and programs while their tests scores get worse and worse.

the underperformers aren't hiding. They stand out quite obviously.

They just don't give a crap

Um, unless kids are watching and not reading while on their devices, what is the reading problem?

Perhaps the topic is wrong.

Is it kids can't read or is it the kids can't answer questions about what they read?

If they can't read, media must be a watching tool, not reading tool.

If they can read,then we need to see the tests and determine the real issue: comprehension?

Honestly, I hated multiple choice tests on reading comprehension. I could explain everything I read, but questions sometimes were more confusing.

I'd rather have a teacher ask the question,I would answer or ask to clarify their question, and give an answer.

Those multiple choices sometimes were hooked on a specific answer yet multiple choices were just as correct as the next.

When I was in high school, it was a rare thing to find anyone who loved to read.

Oh, they existed. And ridiculed. Unmercifully.

In MAGA cutlure at least, you have to be a very brave boy or girl to obviously like reading.

So, no. I'm not surprised at the ascendance of MAGA that reading scores take a nose dive.

It's a cultural thing.

These scores started dropping as soon as we moved away from phonics to the now mostly debunked Whole Language system where kids are taught to guess words based on context rather than learning how to sound them out. There is a lot more to it than that, but that is the 100,000ft view. Of course if you follow the money on how the Whole Language fad started it was all about kick backs.

Trump is an idiot, but his push at getting rid of the dept. of education, and shipping the funding directly to the states to determine how it's spent might be the best way of pushing back on the forced implementation of things like Whole Language since a central entity can't be bought and then force wholesale adoption at the gunpoint of withheld funding.

This is an interesting take.

25 Most Illiterate States in America
www.insidermonkey.com

You're a ------- imbecile, you MAGAT ----. Go ---- off.

#14 | Posted by kwrx25

You're an idiot too, pal. Go ---- yourself.

Always adding to the conversation Legally... we hang on your insightful takes.

@#4 ... "A Short video, notifications, algorithmic feeds, constant task-switching, reduced long-form reading, less boredom, less unstructured thought."

Excellent summation, and excellent point. ...

Agreed.

The attention span seem to have been reduced.

Taking the time to read a novel?

Nah.

Bouncing from short video to short video seems to be the preferred learning experience (or, possibly more accurately, the preferred non-learning experience) of late.

Has Big Tech diminished the ability of our children to learn?

You're a ------- imbecile, you MAGAT ----. Go ---- off.

#16 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-09-09 02:27 PM | Reply | Flag:

STFU Raetard. Just stop. Everyone here (all 12 of us) know who you are. No one cares about this site. You're struggling with hits so bad; you have to create bots with shock and awe... Even Alexandrite and her virtue signaling ass is running cover for you and your dumbass. Like she flags all your ----. Did you fall and hit your head? You're turning into one of those assisted-living nuts who just won't let go.

Everyone here (all 12 of us) know who you are.

Why do you think he's RCade?

You tracking his IP?

Why do you think he's RCade?
You tracking his IP?

#22 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-09-09 09:44 PM | Reply | Flag

STFU dumbass. I was talking to the adults.

-Why do you think he's RCade?

The only reason I would think it's possible is that it's the only explanation for why that ------- hasn't been banned.

Why do you think he's RCade?
You tracking his IP?

#22 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-09-09 09:44 PM | Reply | Flag:
Because he allows suicide encouragement and assassination of political figures that he wouldn't tolerate from anu of us?.?.

No.... I'm not tracking his ISP addy

I could, but I won't..... G0 fly a ------- kite

IDK.

Why waste his time with a sock puppet when he could tell you to go ---- yourself as RCade?

Guess you guys like your sock puppets.

" The only reason I would think it's possible is that it's the only explanation for why that ------- hasn't been banned.

#24 | POSTED BY EBERLY AT 2026-09-09 09:58 PM | FLAG: | FUNNY:"

Yep, Boaz got permanently banned for far less. I know this bot gets abusive flags. Pretty sure Rcade ignores them if they come from a righty. But I also know some of this site's lefties find this cretin's schtick repellent and a few have admitt3d to flagging it abusive. Yet, here we are.

@#19 ... Has Big Tech diminished the ability of our children to learn? ...

Wow, the topic of this thread seems to have changed.

Why might that be?

@#28 ... But I also know ...

How does your current trolling alias know that which it asserts it knows?

And, what evidence does it have of that?

Yer up.

THis is no child left behind's legacy.

Teaching to take a test is not a long term strategy for success.

Another GOP plan that just hurts the nation long term.

I think it's AI's goal to make humans stupid and lose the ability for critical thinking.
It's modeling what MAGA preaches.

No Child Left Behind (alone).
They're still searching for that lowest common denominator to ensure equity.
Vonnegutian.

Here have some pain-

Why the IQ Threshold Changed

1959 Threshold: The old threshold for mental retardation was set at an IQ of 85 or below. [1] (x.com)

1973 Change: The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) lowered the cutoff to an IQ of 70 or below. [1] (mn.gov), [2] (x.com)

Reason for Change: The previous threshold of 85 over-identified individuals"disproportionately labeling minority students"and caused misclassifications in special education. Dropping the score to 70 focused the diagnosis on people with true cognitive needs. [1] (x.com)