Katie Jenner, Indiana's secretary of Education and the state's commissioner for higher education, testifies during a hearing in the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Sept. 18, 2025. (Screenshot from committee livestream)

WASHINGTON — Just days after federal data revealed average reading, math and science scores dropped among certain grades since before the coronavirus pandemic, a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday picked apart the root causes and methods for students’ academic improvement.

The hearing in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions centered on the “state of K-12 education” — which GOP members on the committee described as “troubling” — in light of recent data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP.

NAEP,

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