Continued Decline in Fourth Grade Reading Scores: 7 in 10 Below Proficient in 2024
In the second data release from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) since the COVID-19 pandemic began, 2024 findings indicate a continued decline in fourth grade reading skills, with a concerning 70% of students scoring below proficient. This figure is up from 68% in 2022 and 66% before the pandemic in 2019.
This is the first time the nation has hit 70% on this measure since 2005, according to NAEP data on the KIDS COUNT® Data Center. NAEP reported that the pandemic accelerated this troubling decline, which actually began prior to the public health crisis.
State-Level Trends in Fourth Grade Reading Proficiency
Learning losses are even more pronounced at the state level. From 2019 to 2024, 46 states saw increases in the share of fourth graders scoring below proficient in reading, with 38 states seeing jumps greater than two percentage points. Maine and Nebraska experienced the largest spikes of 10 and nine percentage points, respectively.
Looking at changes between 2022 and 2024, fewer states — 35 — saw this statistic worsen, while 11 states and D.C. saw improvements in their shares of fourth graders who could not read proficiently. Nationwide in 2024, this figure ranged from a low of 60% in Massachusetts to a high of 80% in New Mexico. Look up the percentage in your state.
Why Fourth Grade Reading Proficiency Matters
Children who reach fourth grade without being able to read proficiently are more likely to drop out of high school, reducing their earnings potential and chances for success. Kids with poor reading skills are also more likely to engage in high-risk behavior during adolescence. This issue is a national priority, as the U.S. government has set a public health objective to improve fourth grade reading proficiency by 2030.
Fourth grade marks a critical transition period when children begin switching from learning to read to reading to learn other subjects in school. However, when kids enter fourth grade without basic reading skills, they often have a difficult time catching up and fall further behind across subjects.
Children who have fewer early learning opportunities, such as early childhood education, tend to enter kindergarten at a disadvantage and stay behind in subsequent grades. This, and limited access to other basic resources, contributes to significant disparities in fourth grade reading skills by socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity.
Reading Proficiency Findings by Race and Ethnicity
The KIDS COUNT Data Center also provides NAEP data on fourth graders scoring below proficient in reading by race and ethnicity. These data show:
- Between 2019 and 2024, 2024, all racial and ethnic groups saw increases in the share of fourth graders below proficient in reading, with jumps from two to five percentage points.
- In 2024, at least eight in 10 American Indian or Alaska Native (85%), Black (84%) and Latino (80%) fourth graders were not proficient in reading, followed by more than six in 10 multiracial (65%) and white (61%) fourth graders, respectively.
- These racial and ethnic disparities remain large for American Indian and Alaska Native students since 2005 when the KIDS COUNT Data Center began tracking this measure, but gaps have modestly narrowed for Black and Latino students.
- These and other education data, along with findings in the KIDS COUNT Data Book, indicate that our nation is not providing American Indian or Alaska Native, Black and Latino children with the opportunities and support they need to thrive academically and in other areas of life.
More Education Data
Access more on this topic from the Annie E. Casey Foundation:
- The 2024 KIDS COUNT Data Book provides policy recommendations to improve reading and math proficiency.
- See our recent summaries of how to improve a child’s reading skills and the status of eighth grade math proficiency in America.
Find new resources on education and racial equity and inclusion.
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