New data underscores a troubling trend: Middle schoolers’ reading scores are stuck at post-pandemic lows, even as younger students show some signs of academic recovery. The research , from the assessment and research organization NWEA, examines 6th graders’ reading scores on the company’s MAP Growth tests between 2017 and 2025. Over the past two years, two sets of results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress have shown middle schoolers’ reading scores continuing to fall or stagnating , with the lowest-performing students driving the decline. Some advocates have attributed recent, modest gains in national reading scores for elementary school students to these reforms. At the state level, several states, including Mississippi and Louisiana, have seen elementary school students make big jumps on national tests.