What’s the good news — and not so good news — from The Nation’s Report Card?

Plenty’s been written in recent years about the struggles American kids are having in reading and math, particularly post-pandemic.

Now here’s some measured good news.

Average reading and math scores for American 9-year-old students increased from 2022 to 2025 — particularly among lower-performing students, according to long-term trend results released Wednesday by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in its “The Nation’s Report Card.”

But, in school report card-speak, there’s also room for improvement.

Among the tested American 13-year-olds, there was no progress demonstrated in either math or reading.

The marks reflected in the assessment offer long-term perspective on reading and mathematics proficiency for 9- and 13-year-old students across the nation.

“The new results show some encouraging signs of growth, with 9-year-olds making progress in reading and mathematics,” NCES Acting Commissioner Matthew Soldner said in an agency news release.

“Looking over the longer term, though, we saw 9- and 13-year-old students reach some of their highest mathematics scores in 2012. We know that higher performance is possible, and the gains we’re seeing for 9-year-olds show us that growth can happen again.”

Approximately 15,000 9-year-olds and 16,000 13-year-old in hundreds of schools across the nation— both public and private — participated in the assessment.

Wednesday’s results are nationally representative — so no specific information on the performance of Utah students was reflected in the report.

Reading and math gains for 9-year-olds

The Nation’s Report Card released Wednesday revealed that a larger percentage of 9-year-old students were performing at or above “Level 200” for both reading math than students that were the same age in 2022.

Seventy-one percent of tested 9-year-olds scored at or above Level 200 in reading 2025 - up from 67% in 2022 and 59% in 1971.

Students at Level 200, according to the NCES, can locate and identify facts from simple informational paragraphs, stories and news articles. They can also combine ideas and make inferences based on the passages.

In math, meanwhile, 84% of tested 9-year-olds in 2025 scored at Level 200, up from 80% in 2022 and 70% in 1978.

Students at Level 200, the report noted, can demonstrate beginning math skills such as adding two-digit numbers, while still developing ability in subtraction. They also demonstrated some basic multiplication and division skills.

But performance numbers remain static for 13-year-olds

Meanwhile, 13-year-old American students were stagnant in both reading and math proficiencies, according to the assessment.

Almost 60% from that age group scored at or above Level 250 in reading in 2025, which is reportedly not significantly different from the percentage in 2023 or 1971.

Students at Level 250 are able to search for information, interrelate ideas and make generalizations about the passages they read.

Seventy percent of the 13-year-olds who participated in the 2025 assessment scored at or above 250 Level in math. Again, not significantly different from the percentage in 2023 — but higher than 65% in 1978

Students with a Level 250 proficiency have an initial understanding of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. They can solve one-step word problems and compare information from charts and graphs.

Utah policy makers responding to early literacy worries

While Wednesday’s National Report Card did not provide state-level assessment, fairly recent NCES data revealed Utah kids are faring better than most — but there was still cause for reading concern among early adolescents.

Meanwhile, according to data released by the NCES last year, Beehive State students performed “significantly higher” in math than the national average for both fourth and eighth graders in 2024.

When the 2024 results revealed declining reading scores for Utah eighth graders, the Utah State Board of Education signaled their commitment to identifying the causes of declining reading scores — while implementing “targeted efforts” and proven strategies.

“Our focus is on ensuring measurable improvements in reading outcomes by working with schools to equip educators and students with tools and targeted training,” said Darin Nielsen, deputy superintendent of student learning, in the state board report.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers responded to sobering reading proficiency scores during the 2026 Utah legislative session by passing a bill calling for early literacy strategies — including a provision requiring a student to repeat third grade if he or she isn’t meeting minimum standards in the years ahead.

Report: Many kids reading for pleasure — but most are not

Both Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and first lady Abby Cox have championed early literacy and reading efforts.

Both will likely find interest in Wednesday’s The Nation’s Report Card data examining if American kids are reading for pleasure. How likely are they to pick up a book or read an online article simply because it’s fun and entertaining?

According to Wednesday’s report, 37% of 9-year-old students reported reading for fun almost every day — a similar percentage to what was found in 2022, but lower than the percentage in 2020 (42%) and 1984 (53 percent).

But reading for the fun of it is, well, apparently not quite as fun for American kids entering their teens.

Only 14% of 13-year-olds reported reading for fun almost every day in 2025. That’s far different than, say, their Gen X predecessors. In 1984, 35% of 13-year-olds read for fun on a daily basis.

What’s the future for The Nation’s Report Card?

Wednesday’s Nation’s Report Card is reportedly the first long-term trend report released since the Trump administration began making cuts to the Education Department in 2025.

Those cuts included laying off more than half the workers at the Institute of Education Sciences, the arm of the department charged with measuring student achievement and overseeing and processing the data that comes from the tests students take, NPR reported.

After those cuts, the department also canceled about a dozen national and state assessments of student progress through 2032 — one of those being the next iteration of these tests. (Since then, plans have been announced to restore some of those exams.)

Still, students won’t see these questions again until 2033, reported NPR.