Reading Comprehension

The ability to understand and interpret textual information, known as reading comprehension, allows readers to find the meaning, context and nuance of words. It is a fundamental skill that forms part of an effective education in literacy and communication.

Many people around the world demonstrate a low level of reading comprehension, but this can be remedied through repeated exposure to a wide-range of texts. Overall, reading comprehension is an essential ability that can encourage a lifelong learning habit.

79% of US adults have sufficient English literacy levels to paraphrase, make low-level inferences and compare and contrast text.
However, many American citizens cannot read well enough to be able to understand key information about health, which could be linked to over $230 billion in health care costs each year.
Globally, it is estimated that approximately a third of 10 year olds are able to read and understand a simple written story.
Those that cannot do this do not even cover the minimum proficiency required for reading comprehension.
Students that read for at least 30 minutes a day with a high level of comprehension were found to be almost twice as likely to achieve college and career readiness benchmarks when compared to those that didn’t.
One reading practice program found that students with personalized goals performed 4% better in literal comprehension when compared to students without set goals.
In another study, the use of an e-book platform was found to reduce the number of boys reporting reading difficulties from 28% to 15.9%.
Multiple links have been found between higher levels of reading comprehension and better performance in science education and inquiry-based learning.
Research has found that greater success in reading comprehension is linked to a person’s questioning and visualization abilities.
Many studies have found that the pandemic had a detrimental effect on students’ reading progress on average.

NAEP average reading scores

An analysis of average reading scores in the US for 4th, 8th and 12th grade students shows that scores have seen recent declines.

Grade 4

As of 2022, the average reading score in the US at a 4th grade level was 217.
This has worsened since 2019, where the average 4th grade reading score was 220.
Over the given period, average 4th grade reading scores decreased by 1.81%.

Year	Average reading score	Change
2022	217	– 1.36%
2019	220	– 0.90%
2017	222	– 0.45%
2015	223	+ 0.45%
2013	222	+ 0.45%
2011	221
2009	221
2007	221

A graph is given below to show NAEP average reading scores by year for grade 4 students:

Grade 8

As of 2022, the national average reading score in the US at an 8th grade level was 260.
This has worsened since 2019, where the average 8th grade reading score was 263.
Over the given period, average 8th grade reading scores decreased by 1.14%.

Year	Average reading score	Change
2022	260	– 1.14%
2019	263	– 1.50%
2017	267	+ 0.75%
2015	265	– 1.12%
2013	268	+ 1.13%
2011	265	+ 0.38%
2009	264	+ 0.38%
2007	263

A graph is given below to show NAEP average reading scores by year for grade 8 students:

Grade 12

As of 2022, the national average reading score in the US at a 12th grade level was 285.
This has worsened since 2019, where the average 12th grade reading score was 287.
Over the given period, average 12th grade reading scores decreased by 0.35%.

Year	Average reading score	Change
2019	285	– 0.70%
2015	287	– 0.35%
2013	288
2009	288	+ 0.70%
2005	286

A graph is given below to show NAEP average reading scores by year for grade 12 students:

NAEP reading achievement by level

An analysis of reading achievement levels in the US for 4th, 8th and 12th grade students shows that the percentage of students below a basic level has been increasing in recent years.

Grade 4

As of 2022, 37% of 4th grade students in the US were at a below basic level in terms of their reading achievement.
This has worsened since 2019, where 34% of 4th grade students were below a basic level in reading achievement.
4th grade students at a basic level decreased from 31% in 2019 to 29% in 2022.
4th grade students at a proficient level decreased from 26% in 2019 to 24% in 2022.
9% of 4th grade students were at an advanced level in both 2019 and 2022.

Year	Below basic	Basic	Proficient	Advanced
2022	37%	29%	24%	9%
2019	34%	31%	26%	9%
2017	32%	31%	27%	9%
2015	31%	33%	27%	9%
2013	32%	33%	27%	8%
2011	33%	34%	26%	8%
2009	33%	34%	25%	8%
2007	33%	34%	25%	8%

A graph is given below to show NAEP reading achievement by level for grade 4 students:

Grade 8

As of 2022, 30% of 8th grade students in the US were at a below basic level in terms of their reading achievement.
This has worsened since 2019, where 27% of 8th grade students were below a basic level in reading achievement.
39% of 8th grade students were at a basic level in both 2019 and 2022.
8th grade students at a proficient level decreased from 29% in 2019 to 27% in 2022.
4% of 8th grade students were at an advanced level in both 2019 and 2022.

Year	Below basic	Basic	Proficient	Advanced
2022	30%	39%	27%	4%
2019	27%	39%	29%	4%
2017	24%	40%	32%	4%
2015	24%	42%	31%	4%
2013	22%	42%	32%	4%
2011	24%	42%	30%	3%
2009	25%	43%	30%	3%
2007	26%	43%	28%	3%

A graph is given below to show NAEP reading achievement by level for grade 8 students:

Grade 12

As of 2019, 30% of 12th grade students in the US were at a below basic level in terms of their reading achievement.
This has worsened since 2015, where 28% of 12th grade students were below a basic level in reading achievement.
12th grade students at a basic level decreased from 35% in 2015 to 33% in 2019.
31% of 12th grade students were at a proficient level in both 2015 and 2019.
6% of 12th grade students were at an advanced level in both 2015 and 2019.

Year	Below basic	Basic	Proficient	Advanced
2019	30%	33%	31%	6%
2015	28%	35%	31%	6%
2013	25%	37%	32%	5%
2009	26%	36%	33%	5%
2005	27%	37%	31%	5%

A graph is given below to show NAEP reading achievement by level for grade 12 students:

NAEP average reading scores by text type

An analysis of average reading scores in the US by text type for 4th and 8th grade students shows that literary and informational text scores have both decreased since 2019.

Grade 4

As of 2022, the national average reading score in the US for literary texts at a 4th grade level was 221.
This has decreased since 2019, where the national average for literary texts at a 4th grade level was 222.
As of 2022, the national average reading score in the US for informational texts at a 4th grade level was 214.
This has decreased since 2019, where the national average for informational texts at a 4th grade level was 219.

Text type	2019	2022	Change
Literary	222	221	– 0.45%
Informational	219	214	– 2.28%

A graph is given below to show NAEP average reading scores by text type for grade 4 students:

Grade 8

As of 2022, the national average reading score in the US for literary texts at an 8th grade level was 257.
This has decreased since 2019, where the national average for literary texts at an 8th grade level was 260.
As of 2022, the national average reading score in the US for informational texts at an 8th grade level was 263.
This has decreased since 2019, where the national average for informational texts at an 8th grade level was 266.

Text type	2019	2022	Change
Literary	260	257	– 1.15%
Informational	266	263	– 1.13%

A graph is given below to show NAEP average reading scores by text type for grade 8 students:

How to improve reading comprehension

Specific strategies can be implemented by the reader to improve their level of reading comprehension. By doing so, they will be able to sharpen their reading skills as a whole and understand a wide-range of texts at a much deeper level.