Results from one of the nation’s largest education benchmark tests have been released, showing post-pandemic recovery trends in math and reading for students across the United States.¶
According to the 2025 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Long-Term Trend Assessment results, the average 9-year-old student is showing the first signs of recovery from post-pandemic learning loss in math and reading, but 13-year-olds are either flatlining or declining across all demographic groups.¶
According to experts such as Kirsten Baesler, who leads the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education, the results align with the belief that the nation’s students around age 9 were most affected by COVID-19 learning loss. Those students are now in middle school.¶
What is the NAEP?
The NAEP, also known as The Nation’s Report Card, is a key measure of academic performance across the United States. It tracks achievement in subjects including math, reading, science, U.S. history, and civics, and has helped shape education policy since 1969.¶
Congress requires the NAEP, which is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part of the U.S. Department of Education. An independent board of educators, policymakers, and public representatives sets the program’s policies.¶
The assessment is given to a representative sample of students in public and private schools nationwide. Schools are selected to ensure the results reflect performance at the district, state, and national levels.¶
How the South Compares
The NAEP results can be split up into four regions: The South, the Northeast, the Midwest, and the West. Here is how southern students compare to their peers across the country:¶
Age 9 and Age 13 Long-Term Trend Math¶
The South is consistently the lowest-performing region in both categories, trailing the Northeast and Midwest by between four and nine points each year. Its scores have declined since 2008, and though it has stayed at or near the bottom, the South has remained below the West’s scores, usually following close behind.¶
Age 9 Long-Term Trend Reading¶
Contrary to its math scores, the South usually ranks second or third in Age 9 Long-Term Trend Reading scores and often ties or closely matches the Midwest. It consistently trails Northeast test scores by about five to 11 points, and though there has been a slight decline since 2008, its scores have remained relatively stable compared to the other regions.¶
Age 13 Long-Term Trend Reading¶
The South has performed slightly worse in Age 13 Long-Term Trend Reading than in Age 9, but it led all regions in scores in 2023, beating the West and the Midwest by two points, while frequently matching or outperforming them in other years. Its average score has dropped by six points since 2008 and is tied with the Midwest for last in 2025, but only the West has seen its average score increase since 2008.¶
Differences Between NAEP Assessments¶
The NAEP long-term trend assessments (LTT) in reading and mathematics are distinct from the main NAEP assessments, which date back to the early 1990s.¶
According to NAEP, the existence of two national assessment programs, LTT and the main NAEP, makes it possible to measure student progress over an extended period (LTT) and to measure student knowledge and skills based on the most current curricula and standards (main NAEP).¶
Results from the two assessments cannot be directly compared because they use different questions and have different levels of difficulty, and because LTT is sampled by age whereas the main NAEP is sampled by grade.¶
