Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education and state commissioner of higher education, testifies during a hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on September 18, 2025. (Screenshot from committee livestream)
WASHINGTON – Just days after federal data revealed that average scores in reading, math and science were dwindling in some grades even before the coronavirus pandemic, a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday singled out the underlying causes and methods for improving student learning outcomes.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing focused on “the state of K-12 education” — which GOP members on the committee described as “troubling” — in lithe of the latest data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
NAEP, considered the gold standard in monitoring student academic performance, showed that eighth-grade students’ average science scores in 2019 dropped by 4 points compared to pre-pandemic levels. Average math and reading scores for 12th graders also dropped by 3 points from 2019 to 2024.
The assessments were conducted between January and March 2024. The results also showed that just one-third of Year 12 students considered themselves academically prepared to enter a mathematics college – down from 37% in 2019.
The committee’s chairman, Sen. Bill Cassidy, said it “should concern us that children’s performance in reading, math and science has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.”
The Louisiana Republican added that “success in education is determined not by how much we spend, but by who makes the decisions and how wisely the resources are allocated,” and “when states and local communities gain the power to tailor solutions to the unique needs of students, innovation occurs.”
On the other hand, Sen. Bernie Sanders, a ranking member of the panel, said that “while we focus on education – as important as that is – we also need to focus on the conditions in which our children live.”
The independent newspaper in Vermont noted that “when we look at the real world, we are dealing with millions of families struggling to put food on the table, to pay rent, and with children growing up in dysfunctional families.”
He said that while he’s glad the commission is focusing on these issues, “we need to understand that education is important — and that means prioritizing our children and our teachers.”
The role of technology in education
Martin West, vice president of the National Assessment Governing Council, which oversees and sets NAEP policy, said that while assessments typically measure what is happening to student achievement rather than why, “the patterns they document can guide our search for explanations and solutions.”
He said he thinks one area that needs to be explored is the rise of smartphones and social media platforms aimed at youth.
“We lack direct evidence of a causal link between smartphones and learning, but I believe the technology is a key contributor to young people’s mental health problems, a distraction from learning both in and out of school, and a deterrent to reading when NAEP research shows that far fewer students are reading on their own for fun,” he said.
Indiana’s approach
Katie Jenner, Indiana’s secretary of education and state commissioner of higher education, pointed to some of the initiatives her state is taking to improve student academic performance.
“Over the last three years, Indiana has rebuilt early literacy skills based on reading instruction,” she said. “With the support of a large public-private partnership with the Lilly Endowment, we have trained thousands of teachers, expanded coaching, and districts are implementing evidence-based materials.”
Jenner pointed to the Hoosier state he saw: historic leap in reading results for third-grade students, which means an escalate of almost 5 percentage points compared to the previous year.
The state is also working to support high school students who continue to struggle with reading, including “implementing a performance-based contract pilot specifically for middle school reading in areas such as tutoring and targeted interventions.”
Jenner said Indiana has also “rethought high school” and “overhauled our diplomas, added performance-based incentives to our school funding formulas and ensured a link to school accountability.”
“The state of education in a sorry state”
Meanwhile, some Democrats on the panel sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s sweeping overhaul of the federal role in education, aimed at eliminating the Department of Education.
Although the assessments were made well before Trump’s second term in the White House, Democrats highlighted changes in the department since he took office again and their impact on students.
“I’m really glad we’re holding this State of Education hearing because I see that the state of education is in a sorry state under this Department of Education, where the president promised to disband the Department of Education and immediately went to work to dismantle programs that support our students and schools – with no regard for the law, the consequences, or even what is best for our students,” said Senator Patty Murray, D-Washington State.
“That’s why I see the state of education lagging and frozen, defunding and depriving our schools of support for teachers and the supports and services that children need to succeed,” she said.
Murray expressed concerns that “instead of working with us to fix the education system, Trump and the Secretary of Education (Linda McMahon) are making it much worse.”
