Reading is an important skill to have, and to prepare for the real world everyone must be proficient in it. However, many would be surprised to learn that, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 33 percent of 8th graders in the nation are below the literacy average.
However, these numbers are not merely an anomaly – reading levels have been dropping since the pandemic.
According to the NAEP, 40 percent of fourth graders in the nation are below the basic literacy standards, with rates steadily dropping since 2019, when they were 34 percent.
Unfortunately, Hawaii hasn’t avoided this drop in reading rates, with the data in 2024 standing at 39% of fourth graders below the basic literacy standard.
Eileen Keane, a high school English teacher at Mid-Pacific, gave some insight into why this might be.
“I think pre- and post-COVID is definitely a major marker, but even without COVID, 10 years ago compared to five years ago, there’s a difference in attention span. If you think about what most of us spend a lot of time doing on our phones, scrolling and whatever, we’re not focusing on anything for a long time. We’re not listening to something that has upper level diction,” Keane said.
Literacy is a lot more than just reading, though. Critical thinking skills and writing have also been on the decline, and just like in reading, Hawaii is no exception.
“We’re not listening to things that challenge our thinking. A lot of social media algorithms specifically give you what they think you’ll like. They look at what you like and give you more of that. We’re not challenged with our language, our reading, our comprehension, our analysis – we’re given what we already know, what we like and want to hear. I definitely see that. The quality of writing that I get in class has gone down dramatically compared to 10 years ago,” Keane said.
New advances in technology, specifically Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), may also be the cause of some grief in writing skills over the past few years. According to the AI detection resource Mid-Pacific uses in all language arts departments, Turnitin.com, 6 million papers turned in were at least 80% AI generated.
“I feel like [Generative AI] has [been detrimental] because instead of thinking about how to articulate a thought, they have someone else articulate it for them,” junior Lisa Schroeder said.
While this is an incredibly important issue, those who are concerned must know that there is urgency, but there is also agency. There are many things that people can do to help, such as volunteer work or donating used books. This is a problem that can be solved, especially within local communities.
“Just like with a sport, it’s good to practice a skill and you get better the more you practice, right? When you make something like [reading] a habit, you see more words, your vocabulary expands, you get used to things that authors do in good writing, and you start to replicate that, even if it’s not intentionally, in your own writing,” Keane said.
