The Guardian · US news · Original story
US math and reading test scores are at a 25-year low. Trump cut the agency that can provide answers
National Center for Education Statistics, which collects critical data to guide policy on learning, was decimated after Doge canceled crucial contracts
As reading and math scores fall to their lowest point in the past quarter-century, the US now has fewer tools to understand and develop interventions for this troubling trend.
When the Trump administration took a wrecking ball to the Department of Education last year, firing nearly half of its workers and allowing the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) to cancel nearly $900m in contracts, a little-known agency called the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) was among the hardest hit.
Continue reading...
Amy Qin with graphics by Flávio Pessoa · Fri, Sep 25, 2026, 8:00 AM
US news | The Guardian
National Center for Education Statistics, which collects critical data to guide policy on learning, was decimated after Doge canceled crucial contracts
As reading and math scores fall to their lowest point in the past quarter-century, the US now has fewer tools to understand and develop interventions for this troubling trend.
When the Trump administration took a wrecking ball to the Department of Education last year, firing nearly half of its workers and allowing the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) to cancel nearly $900m in contracts, a little-known agency called the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) was among the hardest hit.
Continue reading...This page shows an excerpt; reporting belongs to the original publisher. Some images or embeds may be omitted compared with the live article.
← More stories · Front page
