Home » Press Releases » U.S. Fourth-Graders Lag Behind Other Countries In Reading Statement by Jeanne Allen, Founder and CEO, the Center for Education Reform
U.S. Fourth-Graders Lag Behind Other Countries In Reading Statement by Jeanne Allen, Founder and CEO, the Center for Education Reform
The latest report on the deteriorating condition of U.S. fourth-graders’ reading proficiency is infuriating and depressing but a trend that is not at all surprising. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) has been administered every five years since 2001 and the fact that, as U.S. News reports, “Reading comprehension among fourth-grade students has flat-lined” over the intervening 16 years, should be a wake-up call to all parents, educators, policymakers and legislative leaders at all levels of government.
These stagnating comprehension results are made even worse by the proficiency advancements of countries that were once our peers or those that fared worse than the U.S. just a few years ago.
This report points to the very real and very pressing need for increased innovation, opportunity and options in education to ensure that all American students can compete, and succeed in life – as a matter of personal accomplishment and as a matter of global competitiveness.
Our nation is falling behind and our children are being left behind. This trend cannot continue.
