Third-grade reading proficiency in New York fell 11 percentage points in 2026, returning to 43% after reaching 54% the year before. The size of the reversal has put the state’s test results—and the way they are scored—under scrutiny.
The state’s third-grade rate had risen from 43% to 54% the year before, according to WAMC, before falling back to 43% in 2026. Across grades 3-8, statewide English Language Arts proficiency reached 53% in 2024-25 and then declined to 48%, according to the New York State School Boards Association. That result remains above the 46% recorded in 2023-24.
Chalkbeat reported a similar pattern, putting statewide reading proficiency on the 2025 state exams at roughly 48%, a five-percentage-point drop year over year. The outlet found fifth-grade reading proficiency alone fell 14 percentage points last year, the steepest decline of any grade level, after soaring 13 points the year before, according to Chalkbeat.
A Statewide Swing, With Questions About Measurement
New York City's own data tells a similarly jarring story. Citywide ELA proficiency fell 13.8 percentage points in third grade, 5.7 points in fourth grade, and 13.1 points in fifth grade between 2025 and 2026, according to the NYC Public Schools InfoHub.
A National Reading Benchmark
The cited NAEP finding provides national context, but does not establish a trend specifically for New York fourth-graders: the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported that the national average fourth-grade reading score in 2024 was 2 points lower than in 2022 and 5 points lower than in 2019, according to NCES.
State officials have pointed to technical adjustments rather than a sudden collapse in learning. A state Education Department spokeswoman told the Times Union that score recalibrations are meant to keep exams consistent in difficulty from year to year, explaining, “This helps ensure that all tests in a subject are equated — no test is harder or easier to pass from year to year.” The department has also said it reduced the number of correct answers needed to be marked proficient in 2024, a change officials describe as adjusting for question difficulty rather than making the test easier.
The New York State Department of Education has stood by both the 11-point increase from 2024 to 2025 and the similarly sized drop the following year, per WAMC. The department told Chalkbeat it takes the decline seriously, saying, “The Department takes this decline seriously and will conduct a detailed analysis to better understand where students are experiencing challenges,” as reported by Chalkbeat.
Experts Split on What's Behind the Numbers
One possible explanation raised by economist Emily Oster, founder of ParentData, is that an incorrect file may have been uploaded while third-, fourth- and fifth-grade exams were being scored, according to WAMC. Testing experts cited by Chalkbeat said the unusually large changes merit careful investigation, while noting there is no clear evidence of a broader testing problem, as reported by Chalkbeat.
NWEA, whose assessments are used alongside state tests, told Chalkbeat its standard due-diligence checks turned up nothing unusual, stating, “we have not found any anomalies through our standard due diligence process.” Meanwhile, EdTrust-New York is calling for an independent audit of the last three years of state ELA assessments, according to the New York State School Boards Association.
Literacy Advocates Point to Deeper Problems
The scoring questions do not resolve concerns about students’ reading levels. Rose Else-Mitchell, executive director of the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz, said between 46% and 52% of children in New York are not reading at grade level, according to WAMC. She has emphasized early intervention, beginning in kindergarten and first grade.
The SUNY New Paltz-based Science of Reading Center, launched in 2022, hosted an Albany summit on literacy instruction. Chloe Walters, a lecturer in SUNY Cortland's Department of Modern Languages and part of the university's educator preparation program, said some teacher candidates and newly certified teachers feel ill-equipped to teach literacy, per WAMC.
Serena Troiani, an adjunct assistant professor at Queens College and a fifth-grade teacher in Port Washington, New York, has pointed to the increasing complexity of texts students encounter as they move through grade levels, according to WAMC.
Times Union education reporter Kathleen Moore has reported on the steep decline in New York elementary students’ reading scores. The state has also moved to require statewide phonics-based reading instruction again, according to WAMC, as officials examine the test results. The state’s promised detailed analysis and any potential audit remain pending.
