In 2024, the percentage of eighth-graders reading below the basic level was the largest in the assessment’s history, and the percentage of fourth-graders who scored below basic was the largest in 20 years.

In fact, only three states or jurisdictions outperformed Beehive State students. But the decline in Utah’s eighth grade reading scores — reflecting national trends in declining reading performances — caught the attention of the state’s education leaders.

U.S. kids continued to lose ground on reading skills in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic​ and have made little improvement in math, an exam known as the nation's report card shows.