The Learning Recession is Real, But Don’t Blame Gen Z

Gen Z receives its fair share of flak from adults. They will tell you our over-dependence on technology has eroded our ability to interact with one another, that we are unprofessional at work, and that the slang we use is in some way doing an end run on the English language. But there is a more serious crisis afoot in American schools these days, and for once, the blame can be placed on the Boomers and Gen Xers in charge. We are in the midst of what can only be called a national “learning recession.”

Take the Education Scorecard, the product of a joint effort by Harvard, Stanford, and Dartmouth. Their most recent numbers, released a month ago, are sobering: Less than a third of students in this country are reading at their grade level. If you are between 15 and 24, you belong to the generation feeling the brunt of these systemic failings in our education system. Nationally, kids are still about half a grade behind in reading compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. On the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), grade eight scores have hit a low not seen since 1990, and for grade four, we are back to pre-2003 figures.

It is tempting to point fingers at the pandemic as the primary cause of this academic slide, but the Scorecard tells a different story. This slide in academics was well underway as early as 2013, seven years before the virus. When the federal government ceded control of K-12 matters to the states in 2015 under the Every Student Succeeds Act, many were ill-equipped to handle it. Student achievement started to nosedive that year.

As high school students soon to be entering college, why should third grade reading levels matter to us? We should care because educational equity is a fundamental pillar of social justice in our society. Every Gen Z teen ought to pay attention.

The data indicate that the drop-off has been the harshest for the lowest-performing students. And if you look closely at the recovery, you will see a distinct “U-shape.” The wealthy districts had the means to make up ground, and the poorest received federal relief. However, middle-income districts — where 30% to 70% of kids are on subsidized lunches — have been left in the dust.

Then again, the scorecard also shows that if you put the pressure on for better policy, you can turn things around. The most surprising plot twist in the Education Scorecard is the “Southern surge.” Southern states have historically underperformed in educational achievement. Television host Bill Maher was quick to mock California for losing ground to “Waffle House, car-on-the-lawn states,” but states like Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi are now leading the country in academic recovery.

Mississippi is the case in point. Some call it a miracle, but experts would tell you it is down to good leadership and accountability. In just over 10 years, the Magnolia State went from 42nd to ninth in reading. They made a point of funding literacy coaches for the early grades and went with the “science of reading” approach back in 2012. They even implemented universal screeners so they could spot dyslexia in a child before he or she failed in third or fourth grade.

Others have taken note. Louisiana is offering incentives to retrain teachers and overhaul curricula. Alabama’s 2022 Numeracy Act puts math coaches in the schools that need them. It is proof that when leaders back evidence-based education policy with structure, students can actually succeed.

We are set to inherit a divided world. You can not fight racism or gender inequality or climate change if your education system is broken. Reading is the ultimate tool for civic engagement, and without it, our voices are muted. So let the culture wars rage in the school board meetings. We have to get to the mechanics of learning. There is no federal cavalry coming to save our K-12 schools; state officials have to put an end to this decline. As the next crop of voters and policymakers, we Gen Z should make sure they do.