U.S. Neuroscientist: Decreasing Reading, Math Scores Tied to Laptop Use

For more than a decade, a trend has emerged in standardized testing data for students in Utah.

Gen Z is the first generation to score lower than its predecessors.

After years of rising reading and math scores, results from the state’s National Assessment of Educational Progress testing for fourth- and eighth-graders have shown a steady downturn, Sasha Rogelberg reported for Fortune.

Neuroscientist and former teacher Jared Cooney Horvath noticed that the inflection point coincided with the implementation of the Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence (SAGE), the state’s first computer-adaptive test.

“Before 2014, computers were in schools; they were just peripheral,” Horvath told Fortune.

“After 2014, every school had to have digital infrastructure in order to take the state assessment.”

Horvath, author of the 2025 book The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids’ Learning—and How to Help Them Thrive Again, said Utah’s test score data is not a fluke but part of a global trend of declining scores that coincides with increased access to computers and tablets in classrooms.

Earlier this year, Horvath testified before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, arguing that the technology’s impact extends beyond test scores to the cognitive capabilities they are intended to measure.

He said that for the first time in modern history, today’s generation has failed to outperform their parents on standardized assessments.

In other words, Gen Z is the first generation to score lower than its predecessors.

Citing data from the Program for International Student Assessment of 15-year-olds worldwide, Horvath noted not only a dip in scores but also a correlation between slumping results and time spent on computers—more screen time was associated with worse scores.