The reading proficiency of 15-year-olds in the United States has fallen to its lowest level in nearly 25 years, according to an international education assessment.
On Tuesday, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released the findings of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025, a global indicator of educational attainment.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
The results showed that U.S. reading proficiency scores have fallen 14 points since 2022, the last time PISA results were released.
This decline is part of a broader international trend, with the 23-nation OECD average also falling by 16 points.
However, the magnitude of the achievement disparity in the United States was striking. Approximately 25.7 percent of U.S. students were ranked as having the lowest performance in reading, and 13.3 percent reported the highest performance.
“Looking at all the 90 participating countries, there was not a single country that had as large a reading disparity as the United States,” Michael Kiefer, a professor of literacy education at New York University, told Al Jazeera. “What is clear is that we are underserving many students.”
The PISA results were released as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to reshape the federal government’s role in education.
In March 2025, President Trump issued an executive order requiring Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin the process of dismantling the Department of Education, the federal agency that tracks student performance, distributes federal education funds, and enforces civil rights in schools.
However, the Ministry of Education does not set curriculum or academic standards for schools. That responsibility has traditionally rested with state and local governments.
Still, Trump cited declining test scores as the reason for closing the department. He also criticized the department’s “entrenched bureaucracy” and called for its responsibilities to be redistributed to the states.
In response to a request for comment on Tuesday, Mr. McMahon sent a statement to Al Jazeera echoing Mr. Trump’s push.
“The United States of America was founded to lead the world, yet a monolithic federal education bureaucracy is starving our children and foreclosing our future,” McMahon wrote.
The White House claims that federal education spending is excessive and has not led to improved standardized test scores.
The Department of Education has spent more than $3 trillion since it was created in 1979, according to the White House.
“This moment is a stress test for the future of our country,” McMahon said in a statement to Al Jazeera. “To pass it, we need to stop defending the failed status quo and instead implement a hard reset that empowers state leaders and builds a system that embraces innovative learning options through school choice.”
“School choice” has been the rallying cry of many American conservatives. The term refers to the practice of diverting taxpayer funds from public education so that parents can help fund alternative options for their children’s schooling, such as charter schools, home schools, and private institutions.
This practice is controversial. Critics charge that “school choice” programs undermine public education in favor of less regulated school systems that receive funding with little oversight.
But since returning to office in 2025, Trump has embraced “school choice” as a form of “educational freedom.”
Last year, the Department of Education announced $500 million for the charter school program, touting the funding as the “largest investment” the initiative had ever received.
This funding was allocated to allow states to expand their charter school systems and fund new charter school developers.
In July 2025, President Trump’s flagship bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, also created the first federal tax credit for donations to organizations that provide scholarships to elementary and middle school students, including private school tuition and tutoring.
Last month, President Trump hosted a “school choice” themed event at the White House to kick off the new school year.
But critics warn that more investment in education across the board is needed to reverse the decline in test scores.
“PISA 2025 demonstrates the urgent need to reverse the decline in student performance,” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said in a statement.
“The most successful education systems focus on fewer areas, invest in teachers, engage parents, and provide targeted support to students and schools who need it most.”
