Summary for Educators: “What Declines in Reading and Math Mean for the U.S. Work Force”

In her September 25, 2025, article, Sarah Mervosh reports that new national test data show steep declines in reading and math proficiency among U.S. high school seniors, and educators, colleges, and employers are beginning to feel the consequences in training, hiring, and instruction. The full piece is available at The New York Times (see original URL).

Key Findings & Context

• The latest assessments reveal that reading scores are at the lowest in three decades, and math scores have tumbled to their lowest since 2005.

• Schools and colleges are struggling to compensate: at Texas State Technical College, many incoming students must take remedial math courses while simultaneously enrolled in technical or vocational classes.

• In selective colleges, professors note students can no longer sustain reading long, dense academic texts. As one humanities professor put it: many students “don’t have the capacity to read a 25-page article.”

• The declines are attributed partly to pandemic disruptions and school closures, but also to longer-term trends: increased screen time, fewer extended reading habits, and systemic inequities.

• The drop is driven primarily by students who were already lower-performing: the gaps at the bottom end of the distribution are widening.

Impacts on the Workforce & Economy

• Across industries, reading and math are essential—even in trades. For example:

  • Truck drivers must understand weight distribution, fuel calculations, legal limits.

  • Healthcare workers must compute dosages, document clinical notes precisely.

  • Customer service and billing roles depend on numeracy and literacy for everyday tasks.

• Executives report that basic math and reading skills are a key filter in hiring. As Randall Stephenson (former CEO of AT&T) notes, many early candidates are screened out for lacking those fundamentals.

• The evolving role of artificial intelligence heightens the demand: AI can draft memos or compute equations, but a human worker still needs to verify, interpret, and decide what comes next.

• Employers and institutions are increasingly stepping in to offer “foundational learning” programs: help with math, literacy, and equivalency credentials for workers.

Systemic and Policy Challenges

• Despite declines, high school graduation rates remain relatively stable (≈ 87%), meaning many students are earning diplomas with weaker skills.

• A $122 billion pandemic recovery fund had a limited effect on reversing trends, in part because only 20% of funds were required to go toward direct academic remediation.

• Political emphasis has diverged: some policymakers promote school choice and privatization; others push to invest in wraparound services (mental health, poverty support) but don't often tie them directly to academic recovery.

Implications & Call to Action for Educators

1. Reassess expectations and scaffolding. Many incoming students lack stamina; it's reasonable to build supports (pre-reading frameworks, chunking high-level texts, guided annotation).

2. Bridge reading + content instruction. Embed literacy in courses outside English: e.g. trade classes, STEM, and humanities all need comprehension scaffolds.

3. Partner with employers. Align instruction with real workforce demands—not just theory—so students see relevance and motivation.

4. Invest in remediation early and often. Don’t wait until college; middle and high schools should integrate accelerated literacy & numeracy supports.

5. Track outcomes & iterate. Schools, colleges, and employers need data about which interventions are effective in improving reading/math for adult learners.

In short, the new test results sound an alarm. If students aren’t leaving high school with durable reading and math skills, the American economy, workplace, and higher education face serious capacity constraints.

Original Article

Source: Sarah Mervosh, “What Declines in Reading and Math Mean for the U.S. Work Force,” The New York Times, Sept. 25, 2025.

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Prepared with the assistance of AI software

OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT (4) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com

Source: Sarah Mervosh, “What Declines in Reading and Math Mean for the U.S. Work Force,” The New York Times, Sept. 25, 2025.