New education findings from the Anne E. Casey Foundation show worsening child educational attainment indicators from 2019 to 2024, with foundational literacy and math performance remaining especially strained. The report cited that 70% of fourth graders are not reading proficiently and 73% of eighth graders are not proficient in math. The foundation’s analysis also reported declines in attendance for preschool-age children, a factor it links to learning readiness and later achievement. While high school graduation rates improved, the report said the most severe slippage occurred in early skills that drive future learning trajectories. The findings position the pandemic as a key contributor but emphasize that early childhood is where outcomes often show “long-tail” effects after disruptions. The report frames education as the lowest-performing domain among education, health, family/community, and economic wellbeing. For higher education, the downstream consequence is a shrinking pipeline of students entering postsecondary coursework with solid literacy and quantitative readiness—raising pressure on placement, remediation, and student success investments.