A new international study showing a significant drop in U.S. students’ math test scores is raising concerns over student performance.
The National Center for Education Statistics, or NCES, released highlights from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, also known as TIMSS, on Wednesday, which offers a snapshot at how many students are behind in mathematics and science, both critical subject areas.
Between 2019 and 2023, test scores for American fourth graders in math dropped by 18 points and scores for eighth graders dropped 27 points. Overall, math test scores stagnated, remaining comparable to math test scores from 1995, when the TIMSS began to be administered to students.
Education experts cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a major reason for the decline because schools were closed or disrupted in the U.S. for longer than in other countries and pointed to absenteeism as another notable problem.
But Carr said the pandemic wasn’t the main cause of such a noticeable decline in students’ knowledge and performance.
“This decline that we’re seeing was there in 2015, so all of this cannot be blamed on COVID,” the commissioner said. “We have been struggling with declining scores, particularly in math, for a while.”
