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Edited by: James Desio and Carter Hutchinson

Happy Thursday! In today’s newsletter, we examine the growing adolescent achievement gap illustrated by the new National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, the growing gender gap among singles, and the ‘pacing problem’ facing AI regulation.

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1. A Growing Achievement Gap

Topline: Just released NAEP scores show a growing gap in reading proficiency for fourth- and eighth-grade students. AEI’s Nat Malkus analyzes the declines driven by the bottom half of test takers, and finds that the gap between the highest and lowest performers is continuing to grow.

The 10th Percentile: The 10th percentile of fourth-grade reading scores dropped four points from 2022 scores. The 10th percentile of eighth-grade reading scores dropped five points from 2022 scores. 

An American Problem: Malkus writes that results from other countries show a different pattern, indicating that the growing achievement gap is specifically an American issue.

“As we might expect, US results on these international assessments show the same patterns that the NAEP assessments show; however, international results also reveal that this pattern is a peculiarly American phenomenon. Indeed, results from other countries do not reflect, either in consistency or degree, the same dual trend of a decline starting in the early 2010s and an increasing absolute achievement gap between the highest and lowest performers.” —Nat Malkus

2. Does Marriage Make You Happy?

Topline: New data from AEI's Dan Cox finds a growing gender gap among American singles, with most single women believe they’re happier than their married counterparts.

• 55 percent of single women believe they’re happier than married women. Only 30 percent of single men believe they’re happier than married men.
• Men and women agree that single men are not happier than married men.

What About Married Men and Women? Only 22 percent of married women and 19 percent of married men believe single women are happier. Similarly, only 22 percent of married men believe single men are happier.

“Today, Americans are delaying marriage until later in life, and more Americans are deciding not to get married at all. There are many reasons marriage has become a lower priority for young adults today. For women, one crucial reason might be that they have doubts about whether the institution leads to a better life.” –Dan Cox

3. Waiting on AI Bills

Topline: With growing calls for AI regulation, AEI’s Will Reinhart writes that our social and legal framework is struggling to keep up with the pace of AI businesses—an idea known as the “pacing problem.”

What is the Pacing Problem? As technological innovation increases, social and political frameworks struggle to catch up. Over time, the gap between technological capability and societal capability grows.

Regulation Risks: Even as the AI landscape changes rapidly, regulators still might not have all the knowledge needed to make impactful rules regarding AI. A regulation’s comprehensive value includes immediate impact and future application.

“There’s value in maintaining the flexibility to respond effectively when we actually understand what needs to be regulated.” —Will Reinhart

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