A Time to Act

The results of the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are in and the findings are, in a word, heartbreaking.  This assessment serves as the nation’s report card, indicating how our students are performing in key subject areas including reading and math.  I have raised three children and report card day has always been important.  It tells our children how they are doing, what we can celebrate, and where we need to focus for improvement.  At Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), this release day is highly anticipated as well. Today we learned that reading performance has declined for both 4^th and 8^th grade students to historic lows.  We learned that our nation is failing our children and that we have to do everything in our power to change this downward trend, invest in our children, and put them on a path to read and succeed. 

I wish there was something to celebrate in these results but there are some truly challenging statistics to grapple with in the data:

•  69% of 4^th grade students are not reading at a proficient level and in 8^th grade, that number increases to 70%.
• The percentage of 8th-grade students reading below the basic level was the largest in NAEP history, and the percentage of 4th-grade students was the largest in 20 years.

If children are reading below a basic level it means their opportunities are extremely limited. If they are not learning to read by 4^th grade, they cannot read to learn in middle school and beyond.  When so many of our children are not reading at a proficient level, their ability to succeed in school and thrive in society is hampered significantly. Reading is a fundamental right and a basic need and these results are a call to action.

As the leading voice for children’s literacy in this country, RIF is calling on leaders of all sectors, public and private, to join us as we fight to ensure that every child has the opportunities that reading provides. We must come together to create a culture of reading in communities and homes nationwide. We must invest in a sustainable future for every child in this country by ensuring they can read.   This is a solvable problem and one that, with attention, commitment, and partnership, I am confident we can solve.

We need your help to reach more students with the essential literacy resources they need to change these results. When we find ourselves looking at the results of the 2026 NAEP, we want to know that we did everything we could to come together to tackle the issue. We want to be celebrating improvements and looking to a future where every child can read.

Please join us to begin the change today.