Derek Thompson

And this is a trend that goes beyond the pandemic, beyond issues about COVID learning loss. Just start us off with the big picture. What's going on here with student reading scores?

And who's leading this decline in reading achievement? Are we talking about a decline among elite college students, high achieving students? Are we talking about the decline being concentrated somewhere else?

And who's leading this decline in reading achievement? Are we talking about a decline among elite college students, high achieving students? Are we talking about the decline being concentrated somewhere else?

And who's leading this decline in reading achievement? Are we talking about a decline among elite college students, high achieving students? Are we talking about the decline being concentrated somewhere else?

So when we talk about student reading scores declining, the biggest story is that the worst readers are getting worse. Who are we talking about here, like demographically speaking?

So when we talk about student reading scores declining, the biggest story is that the worst readers are getting worse. Who are we talking about here, like demographically speaking?

So when we talk about student reading scores declining, the biggest story is that the worst readers are getting worse. Who are we talking about here, like demographically speaking?

And how significant is America's achievement gap compared to other countries for which we have good data?

And how significant is America's achievement gap compared to other countries for which we have good data?

And how significant is America's achievement gap compared to other countries for which we have good data?

Before we go on, I don't want the answer to this question to put people entirely to sleep, but you've mentioned NAAP and TIMSS. Can you just tell us really briefly, like, how do we know what we know in the world of student literacy here? What's NAAP and what's TIMSS?

Before we go on, I don't want the answer to this question to put people entirely to sleep, but you've mentioned NAAP and TIMSS. Can you just tell us really briefly, like, how do we know what we know in the world of student literacy here? What's NAAP and what's TIMSS?

Before we go on, I don't want the answer to this question to put people entirely to sleep, but you've mentioned NAAP and TIMSS. Can you just tell us really briefly, like, how do we know what we know in the world of student literacy here? What's NAAP and what's TIMSS?

So we've established the phenomenon here. This is not just a crisis of elite college students not being able to read books. This is a broader crisis of American students in fourth, eighth grade, maybe even through high school, who have meaningfully worse literacy scores than they did just 10 years ago, and this is a decline that's being accelerated by the worst performing students.

So we've established the phenomenon here. This is not just a crisis of elite college students not being able to read books. This is a broader crisis of American students in fourth, eighth grade, maybe even through high school, who have meaningfully worse literacy scores than they did just 10 years ago, and this is a decline that's being accelerated by the worst performing students.

So we've established the phenomenon here. This is not just a crisis of elite college students not being able to read books. This is a broader crisis of American students in fourth, eighth grade, maybe even through high school, who have meaningfully worse literacy scores than they did just 10 years ago, and this is a decline that's being accelerated by the worst performing students.

That's the phenomenon we're starting with. I'm most interested in the questions of why. What is going on here? What could explain this? I think we should start with policy. Was there a policy shift in K through 12 education that lines up with this change? You said something seems to have happened between 2012 and 2015. Is there a policy shift here that could begin to explain what's going on?

That's the phenomenon we're starting with. I'm most interested in the questions of why. What is going on here? What could explain this? I think we should start with policy. Was there a policy shift in K through 12 education that lines up with this change? You said something seems to have happened between 2012 and 2015. Is there a policy shift here that could begin to explain what's going on?

That's the phenomenon we're starting with. I'm most interested in the questions of why. What is going on here? What could explain this? I think we should start with policy. Was there a policy shift in K through 12 education that lines up with this change? You said something seems to have happened between 2012 and 2015. Is there a policy shift here that could begin to explain what's going on?

And why don't you just explain which of those policies were?