While a specific, single figure for "students failing to function at grade level in 2025" isn't available, 2024 and 2025 data indicates a significant number of students are below basic proficiency. For high school seniors in 2024, the data showed 45% scored below basic in math and 32% in reading, according to the NAEP assessment released in September 2025. Another report estimates that about one-third of US public school students were behind grade level at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
Math and reading proficiency (12th grade)
Below basic: In the 2024 NAEP assessment, 45% of high school seniors were below the "basic" level in math, and 32% were below basic in reading.
Prepared for college-level math: Only 33% of 12th graders were considered academically prepared for college-level math, a drop from 37% in 2019.
Proficiency
across grades
Eighth-grade
math: In 2024, only 28% of eighth-graders scored proficient or above in
math, which was the lowest score since 2005.
Fourth-grade
math: In 2024, only 39% of fourth-graders scored proficient or above in
math.
Eighth-grade
reading: In 2024, only 30% of eighth-graders were proficient in
reading.
Students behind grade level
Nationwide: An average of 32% of students nationwide were behind grade level as of the end of the 2023-2024 school year, according to a Fox News report.
Overall
trends
Post-pandemic decline: These trends are largely attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with student performance still not having recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
National Report Card: The results from the National Report Card (NAEP) indicate a significant, long-term crisis in education, with declining math and reading scores.
Based
on data from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP),
often called the "Nation's Report Card" and with results published in
2025, a significant percentage of U.S. students fail to meet grade-level
expectations, particularly in reading and math.
Specifically, the following percentages of students scored below the "Basic" achievement level (the lowest benchmark):
40% of
fourth-graders
33% of
eighth-graders
32% of high school seniors (12th graders) scored below "Basic" in 2024, the lowest in over 20 years.
Mathematics:
Nearly 40% of eighth-graders.
45% of
high school seniors scored below "Basic" in math in 2024, the lowest
average score since 2005.
A broader measure often used is the percentage of students not performing at or above the "Proficient" level. The 2024 data shows that only 31% of fourth-graders and 30% of eighth-graders were proficient in reading, and only 39% of fourth-graders and 28% of eighth-graders were proficient in math.
These results indicate a widespread decline in academic performance, with scores for the lowest-performing students reaching historic lows and the achievement gap between high- and low-performing students widening. The full results can be explored on the official Nation's Report Card website managed by the National Center for Education Statistics.
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+us+students+failed+to+function+at+grade+level+in+2025
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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