U.S. Education Is Going to the Dogs, and Tablets are to Blame

The past decade may rank as one of the worst in the history of US education. It marks a stark reversal from what was once a hopeful trajectory.

Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), released this year, show that 33% of eighth graders are reading at a “below basic” level, meaning they struggle to follow the sequence of events in a passage or summarize its main idea.

At the start of the century, students showed steady improvement in math and reading.

Around 2013, this progress began to stall, then reversed sharply. What went wrong? The decline began well before the pandemic, so COVID-19 was not the primary cause, Idrees Kahloon reported for The Atlantic.

Smartphones and social media likely account for part of the decline.

But another explanation—one that progressives in particular may be reluctant to accept—is a widespread failure to hold students to high standards.

The consequences of this “lost decade” are now evident. Students have regressed to levels not seen in 25 years or more.

Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), released this year, show that 33% of eighth graders are reading at a “below basic” level, meaning they struggle to follow the sequence of events in a passage or summarize its main idea.

That is the highest share since 1992. Among fourth graders, 40% fall below basic in reading—the highest level since 2000.

In 2024, the average ACT score was 19.4, the lowest since the test was redesigned in 1990.

Another contributing factor may be the negative impact of tablets and laptops in classrooms, where students often use these devices for games and other distractions that erode study time.

In Sweden, educators have banned tablets and returned to textbooks, alarmed by declining reading skills, lack of cursive writing ability, and difficulties in following instructions.