In classrooms across the U.S., children are opening books where the words slip past them, just out of reach. Teachers pause to help, parents worry at home and test scores confirm a growing crisis: millions of American students are falling behind in reading.
As of 2024, two-thirds of fourth graders in the nation cannot read at grade level — a widening gap that threatens both their academic progress and long-term futures. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scores have dropped an average of two points since 2022 and five points since 2019, a decline that began long before the COVID-19 pandemic. While COVID-19 widened the reading crisis, experts say the root of the problem runs deeper. This literacy gap shapes not only classroom performance, but also future success; children who are unable to read proficiently by the fourth grade are more likely to struggle academically and eventually drop out.
In a 2022 press conference, Department of Education statistician Daniel McGrath said the latest data is concerning and unprecedented.
“These are some of the largest declines we have observed in a single assessment cycle in 50 years of the NAEP program,” McGrath said.
The increasing prevalence of screen time in adolescents’ daily lives contributes to this trend. Children under 8 years old average 2.5 hours of screen time each day; by age 10, that number jumps to eight hours or more.
Social media apps such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram flood users with endless content and algorithm-driven distractions that reduce attention spans to quick bursts. Over time, this can condition users to split their focus rather than being consistently fully engaged. These habits can directly hurt reading skills by weakening attention span, patience and comprehension.
Teaching methods have also contributed to the decline in reading scores. The traditional and most efficient approach, phonics, teaches elementary schoolers to connect letters and sounds, giving them the ability to decode unfamiliar words. In the 1990s, under the influence of curriculum developer Lucy Calkins, many schools adopted a newer method known as balanced literacy. Instead of sounding words out, students began to rely on context clues and pictures to guess meanings. This strategy can work for younger students with easier words, but as they get older and are expected to read complex passages on a higher level, they will lack the skills to do so.
Reading instructor Tracie Reisner has taught at Wood Acres Elementary School for over 10 years, where she employed a balanced literacy approach. She says that although recent research shows the method has negative long-term impacts, curriculum designers told teachers at the time that it was the most innovative way to teach reading.
“Back then, I was a huge believer, and I thought it was how kids should learn how to read,” Reisner said. “The whole idea was that it got kids to love reading, which I really liked. When we switched back to phonic reading, I felt like we were honestly going back into old-fashioned strategy; however, the kids actually thrived and it gave them the building blocks they needed.”
Critics argue that balanced literacy particularly disadvantages children without frequent exposure to a rich vocabulary at home. Outside of school, extensive vocabulary and encouragement to read are key factors in developing reading skills.
Many states are now regulating the different reading programs that public schools can use, attempting to improve literacy rates. Forty states and Washington, D.C. now enforce “Science of Reading” laws, which require teachers to use scientifically proven strategies to help kids learn. This is accomplished with state obligations that provide instructional materials and curriculum outlines to teachers, as well as requirements for educators to be adequately trained with evidence-based strategies. However, for students taught under balanced literacy, their comprehension may lag unless skills are reinforced through continued instruction.
“Their spelling is just off the charts because they never learned the basic rules of how letters and sounds work together,” Reisner said.
Trish Brennan-Gac, the executive director of Maryland Reads, has over 30 years of experience managing outreach campaigns focused on improving literacy in her state. Maryland Reads, founded in 2021, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the literacy crisis in Maryland. Working with her team, Brennan-Gac advocates for improved reading instruction by educating and collaborating with policymakers, using data collected from their assessments and research. Their goal is to influence legislation that directly targets the declining literacy scores with the most effective strategies. Brennan-Gac says that children’s reading exposure at home can play a crucial role in their development.
“Part of it really relates to how teachers are trained to teach reading and support in doing that instruction in the classroom,” Brennan-Gac said. “That’s definitely a very critical piece, but it’s not the only piece; what happens outside of the classroom is equally as important.”
Parent involvement is one of the strongest predictors of a child’s literacy success. Studies show that when parents read aloud, discuss books and model positive reading habits, children can develop stronger vocabulary and comprehension skills. Experts emphasize that encouragement at home can be just as important as classroom instruction.
Federal funding programs are also being introduced to combat the illiteracy gap. The U.S. Department of Education created the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL), a program designed to provide underfunded schools and communities with the necessary resources to enhance their literacy. Resources range from further improvements in libraries to providing pediatricians with the opportunity to offer recommendations to parents based on their assessments of a child’s skills. At the national level, initiatives such as Healthy People 2030 have set goals to increase the level of proficient readers and are tracking their progress. Even with federal investments and national goals, improvement in literacy scores ultimately begins at home.
During the pandemic, when many children were learning to read over Zoom and families faced widespread uncertainty, neither the classroom nor the home environment worked as effectively. Children who were 7 to 9 years old — the standard years for learning to read — fell behind without in-person guidance and specialist support. This meant that struggling readers had no opportunity to catch up, widening the literacy gap and pushing many further from grade-level expectations.
As schools reopened, new technology created a fresh set of challenges. Recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) enable students to fake literacy throughout high school. Instead of reading books, they can use tools like ChatGPT to generate summaries, leaving them with a simplified version of a text. As of 2024, 22% of Whitman students admitted to having used AI to cheat, and 5% confessed to submitting a fully AI-generated essay.
Brennan-Gac says AI tools are especially harmful because of the lack of safety testing.
“Relying on technology for reading keeps kids from developing critical thinking skills, the ability to read complex text and even the ability to decide what’s true or false,” Brennan-Gac said. “It might make high school easier, but it leaves students unprepared for life.”
Technology’s impact on teens doesn’t end with AI. With social media and screen time consuming most teenagers’ leisure time, fewer teens are eager to pick up a book for fun. In 2023, 31% of teenagers reported “never or hardly ever” reading in their free time — almost quadruple the percentage in 1984. Teenagers still read some texts, from required school assignments to social media posts, but reading longer, more sophisticated texts can improve cognitive function and increase concentration time.
With pressure rising to have busy schedules filled with sports and extracurriculars while still maintaining good grades in rigorous classes, many teens don’t have enough time to open a book for fun. It may be easier to keep scrolling than focusing on reading, and it’s the body’s natural response to maximize dopamine intake, the “feel-good” chemical linked to pleasure and reward. For students who already struggle with reading, books can feel even more intimidating. Some children even claim to hate reading when, in reality, distractions have drained their motivation. These challenges add up to more than just a dislike of books; they put the nation’s literacy levels at risk.
Junior Kate Mandell says reading now feels more like a chore than a hobby.
“I can’t remember the last time I just read a book for fun,” Mandell said. I used to do it all the time, but now with all of my homework every single day, I just don’t have time anymore. read books for school, but they can be boring, and when you’re reading for a grade, it feels different.”
Developing strong literacy skills is incredibly important for children’s futures. Reading builds vocabulary, enhances memory and improves critical thinking skills. It also strengthens cognitive processes that directly correlate to problem-solving skills.
The benefits of literacy extend beyond the classroom; they can impact career opportunities. Adults with weaker literacy skills are more likely to face unemployment and earn lower incomes, making it harder to provide for their families. This can lead to a generational cycle of illiteracy as kids are 72% more likely to be at lower reading levels if their parents also struggle with reading.
With new regulations on reading programs and innovative ways to encourage kids to read for fun, it may be possible to turn things around. Brennan-Gac says that fixing this issue depends on adults taking action.
“We know what it takes to stop this problem: coaching teachers, engaging families, reducing screens, but it requires the will to act,” Brennan-Gac said. “If communities, legislatures and families lean in together, we can make dramatic change.”
