Rapidly-increasing levels of non-English speaking students in schools across the nation may be contributing to the abysmal reading scores reported in recent years nationwide.
Data from the 2024 Nation’s Report Card released by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in January revealed that not only have test scores, particularly in reading, fallen nationwide, but the percentage of English learners in K-12 schools has been rising dramatically in nearly every state. English learners in both 4th and 8th grade underperformed students in every other demographic measured by the NAEP, including low-income students and students with disabilities.
Among 4th graders, 60% of economically disadvantaged students and 78% of disabled students scored below average on the reading assessment compared to 79% of English learners, according to the report. The comparison is even more drastic among 8th grade students, with 84% non-English speaking students scoring below average compared to 61% of low-income students and 79% of students with disabilities.
In Texas, English learners made up only 7% of 4th grade students tracked by the NAEP in 1998, a number that rose to 23% by 2024. In New Mexico that number was 13% in 1998 and 18% by 2024, and in California 4th grade English learners make up 22% of students in 2024, up from 16% in 1998.
Test scores in these states are some of the lowest in the country, with New Mexico’s reading scores ranking at the very bottom of all states, according to a U.S. News list using the NAEP’s data. Texas is ranked at 41 while California also remains in the bottom half at number 29.
Overall, 4th grade students scored an average of 215 on the reading assessment in 2024, testing substantially below the proficiency score of 238, according to the data. Among English learners, that number was even lower at 185 nationally, 194 in Texas, 181 in California and 173 in New Mexico.
Removing English learners from the mix, those averages rise to 219 nationally, 217 in Texas, 221 in California and 207 in New Mexico. The NAEP’s benchmark for a “basic” reading achievement level is a minimum score of 208.
Test scores have fallen nationwide in recent years, with one-third of eighth graders failing to reach the NAEP’s reading assessment benchmark in 2024, the largest percentage ever recorded. About 40% of fourth grade students tested below NAEP’s reading proficiency, the largest percentage since 2002.
While non-English speaking students are partly to blame for the tanking test scores, several other factors are also contributing to this trend.
Many schools failed to recover from the learning losses suffered after months of remote learning due to the prolonged school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many schools did not return to in-person instruction until the fall of 2021 at the behest of teachers unions.
In recent years many schools also shifted their focus to efforts other than education, such as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory (CRT) initiatives. The Trump administration has since made moves to root out these ideologies.
Illegal immigration skyrocketed under the Biden administration, with hundreds of criminal illegal migrants flooding into the U.S. through the southern border since former President Joe Biden took office. President Donald Trump has since declared an emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border, facilitated the arrests and deportations of thousands of illegal immigrants and controversially issued a directive allowing for criminal illegal aliens to be arrested on school grounds.
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