The share of American teens below the OECD's functional-literacy floor is now 26%, up seven points since 2015.
The drop. American 15-year-olds scored 490 in reading on the 2025 PISA exam (the international test given to 15-year-olds every three years since 2000). That is 14 points below their 2022 result and 15 below 2018 — the first real break in a quarter-century of flat US reading.
The other subjects. Math and science did not move enough to count as a change.
The ranking. The US still sits above the average of OECD countries in reading and science, and its rank rose to 13th in both. That is because scores elsewhere fell faster. Across the OECD, reading is down 28 points and math 22 over the past decade.
The three subject scores, US against the OECD average:
- Reading
- 490 vs. 461
- Science
- 490 vs. 461
- Math
- 463 vs. 463
Still open. The OECD flagged the US sample for incomplete school response rates, meaning bias in the American results cannot be ruled out. It applied that caution to only one other country, Albania.
What the widening US spread and the data flags show
- Gap between US students at the 90th and 10th percentiles in reading, widening since 2015: 50 points — the largest spread of any country tested
- US students reaching the top reading level (Level 5 or above): 13%, against an OECD average of 6%
- US test-takers who skipped the background questionnaire, blocking any race or income breakdown: more than 40%