According to international test results, student academic performance in the United States has dropped dramatically since 2019, the last assessment and the year before government and school leaders sent children to learn at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the results of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study assessment released this week, U.S. students scored lower than ever on math and science assessments in every subject except for eighth-grade science, which was the same as that initial assessment nearly 30 years ago.
The international test, called TIMSS, is administered by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and given to students in 44 countries every four years. The assessment showed academic declines in science and math for students in the United States, which some countries did not experience.
“For the 49 countries with comparable fourth-grade data in TIMSS 2019, 14 showed an increase in average mathematics achievement in TIMSS 2023, 13 indicated a decrease, and 22 had no change,” the IEA said in a press release this week. “Trend results are similar for these countries in science, where 15 showed an increase in average achievement, 13 exhibited a decrease, and 21 had no change.”
The IEA said that only several nations saw their eighth-grade students improve.
“For the 34 countries with comparable eighth-grade data in TIMSS 2019, only three showed an increase in average mathematics achievement, 14 displayed a decrease, and 17 had no change,” the IEA's release said. “The results are similar in science, where again, only three countries showed an increase in average achievement, 15 indicated a decrease, and 16 had no change.”
The United States received some of the worst scores in decades or broke new records for low academic performance.
U.S. fourth graders had an average math achievement score of 517 on the 2023 assessment, down from 541 in 2011 and 518 in 1995 and 2003, the first two years of the assessment and the previous low score. In 2019, the average score for that grade in math was 535, meaning there was an 18-point drop in the four years spanning the pandemic.
Those in eighth grade received an average score of 488 on the math assessment, down from a high of 518 in 2015. The 2023 average was the lowest score ever measured by the test. Previously, the lowest score was 492 in 1995. The average in 2019 was 515, meaning students fell 27 points on the assessment since that year.
In science, fourth-grade U.S. students received an average score of 532. In 2015, the average score was 546. The lowest previous score was in 2003, where the average for the nation was 536. In 2019, the average score was 539.
The nation’s eighth-grade students received the same average score in science, 513, as did students in 1995, the nation’s previous all-time low score in the subject. The highest recorded score was 530 in 2015. In 2019, the average score was 522.
While U.S. test scores show students have declined academically since the pandemic, the nation’s spending on education has steadily increased per pupil, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The center released data in May about the 2021-22 school year, which is the 2022 fiscal year.
The education data agency housed in the Institute of Education Sciences said per-pupil student spending had increased because of COVID-19 relief funds.
“Current expenditures per pupil for the U.S. increased by 1.8% between FY 21 and FY 22, after adjusting for inflation (from $15,321 to $15,591), following an increase of 3.5% between FY 20 and FY 21,” the NCES said in the news release.
As of Friday, the Department of Education and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona had not publicly commented on the assessment results.
"Educators and leaders: don’t forget who you’re in this for," Cardona posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday. "Let’s continue to roll up our sleeves and serve students and families."
