NC, US students are in a ‘reading recession,’ as test scores continue to decline

May 13, 2026 - 12:41

A troubling trend is deepening for students in North Carolina and across the United States, as reading test scores continue to slide. Experts are now describing the situation as a "reading recession," a term that captures the sustained and widespread drop in literacy skills. The problem is not new, but it has been made significantly worse by several overlapping factors.

Poor student attendance has become a major obstacle, with many children missing critical classroom instruction. The academic declines triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic hit reading skills hard, and schools are still struggling to recover. However, the current crisis also builds on years of stagnant or falling scores that existed long before the pandemic shut down schools.

In response, North Carolina and many other states have started to overhaul how reading is taught. They are shifting toward methods grounded in research on how the brain learns to read, often called the science of reading. This approach emphasizes phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies. Yet, turning policy into practice takes time, and the results are not immediate. For now, educators and parents face the difficult task of reversing a recession that has been years in the making, one that threatens the long-term academic and economic future of an entire generation.