How Are U.S. Students Doing in Math? About as Well as Their Parents Did in 1995

The results are in — and they’re not great.

International data on math and science released earlier this month gave the globe its first chance to compare progress since the pandemic.

For the United States, it appears that the COVID-19 pandemic reversed more than 20 years of progress in math scores, based on results from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, said as much during a briefing with reporters.

The average math score among both fourth and eighth graders in 2023 was statistically the same as in 1995 — when some of today’s students’ own parents were in grade school themselves.

Looking at the Big Picture

Fourth graders scored an average of 517 points in math in 2023, putting them just one point lower than the average score in 1995. The national average reached its peak in 2011 at 541 points.

In 2023, the U.S. ranked 28th out of 63 education systems, rubbing shoulders with Portugal and Cyprus. Singapore, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) and Hong Kong (China) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) made up the top spots.

When it comes to the most high-flying students, those whose scores place them as advanced in math, 13 percent of U.S. students earned the distinction in 2023 compared to the international median of 7 percent.

Even with almost double the median amount of advanced fourth-grade students, the U.S. ended up in 17th place on that list — close behind Romania, Poland and Bulgaria.

Middling Middle School Math

In terms of eighth-grade math, the U.S. ranks 24th out of 45 education systems, sitting between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. Singapore, Chinese Taipei and the Republic of Korea took the top three spots in the rankings.

The U.S. landed in 21st place in the advanced benchmark ranking with 8 percent of students, one point above the international median.

Like their younger counterparts, eighth graders’ average score of 488 in 2023 was about the same as how they did in 1995. Their highest average score was 518 in 2015.

Gaps Depending on Race

While U.S. fourth graders scored an average of 517 in math, the differences are stark among racial groups.

Asian, white and children of two or more races each scored 54 to 25 points above the average.

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, Black and Hispanic children scored 60 to 26 points below average.

The chasms carried over into eighth-grade scores, where Asian and white students scored 92 and 28 points above the average. Black and Hispanic students’ average scores were 45 and 32 points below overall average.

Pamela Burdman, executive director of the education equity nonprofit Just Equations, says that gaps in math scores are a persistent problem because they are a reflection of resources. That includes resources available to schools — like the ability to attract math teachers versus making do with substitutes — and the resources of students.

“Some students have more access to parents who can help them with their math homework than other students,” Burdman says. “Some students may have a stay-at-home parent, other kids may have two parents who are out of the home a lot working multiple jobs. There are just so many in-school and out-of-school factors that can affect this.”

Lower grades in math can become a barrier that has a ripple effect on students’ academic opportunities through college and even their careers, Burdman explains. That’s because it’s typically students considered high performers who are offered more advanced math classes as they progress through middle and high school, and colleges want to see those advanced classes on student transcripts when making admissions decisions.

Burdman thinks that the best way to solve the problem of slumping math scores is tackle it at all levels of government — district, state and federal — in the same way that officials addressed third-grade reading scores some years ago.

“This may be something that, in addition to state and federal investment, private foundations and others could help support,” Burdman says. “But it definitely needs that concentrated effort.”

Boys vs. Girls

Globally, boys scored higher in math than girls. The only country where fourth-grade girls scored higher than boys was South Africa.

In the U.S., the gap between fourth-grade girls’ and boys’ average math scores grew wider — from 3 points in 1995 to 18 points in 2023.

Eighth-grade boys outperformed girls in math in 24 countries, and the genders had the same average scores in another 18 countries. Eighth-grade girls’ average scores were higher in Oman, South Africa, Bahrain and the Palestinian National Authority — but the report cautioned to interpret data from the latter three “with caution” due to high margins of error.

In 1995, average scores in the U.S. were the same across genders. By 2023, girls had fallen 14 points behind the boys.

EdSurge has written about the divergence in boys’ and girls’ math scores before, with results from one survey of more than 17,500 girls suggesting that developing confidence could help them stay motivated to take an interest in and enjoy math classes.

Shane Woods, executive director of the nonprofit mentorship group Girlstart, said girls need to feel supported and safe enough to make mistakes in the face of pressure to appear perfect.

Girls need to know “that they can take risks in that space, that it is safe to learn from one another, to fail in front of each other to get back up and take it as a lesson or a success,” Woods said. “That is really what’s critical in changing how girls see themselves in these careers and what they can do, so we have to reinforce that STEM will allow them to change the world.”