{"id":3770,"date":"2026-07-19T19:11:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3770"},"modified":"2026-07-19T19:11:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T19:11:33","slug":"americas-math-and-reading-scores-tanked-after-schools-ditched-textbooks-for-screens-and-ai-could-worsen-the-brain-rot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3770","title":{"rendered":"America\u2019s math and reading scores tanked after schools ditched textbooks for screens\u2014and AI could worsen the brain rot"},"content":{"rendered":"
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AI use among students has become ubiquitous following the 2022 release of ChatGPT. More than 80% of high school students reported using generative AI for schoolwork last year, according to a survey from College Board, the nonprofit that administers the SAT and AP tests.<\/p>\n

Read more A decade after the \u2018Godfather of AI\u2019 said radiologists were obsolete, their salaries are up to $571K and demand is growing fast<\/a><\/p>\n

While access to AI chatbots makes homework as easy as plugging a question into one\u2019s phone, the frictionless retrieval of information using AI has raised concerns among educators: Rather than aid in learning, could AI actually hinder the process?<\/p>\n

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A Brookings Institute study published in January laid bare anxieties about the potential harms of AI in the classroom. Analyzing data from interviews and focus groups with more than 500 educators, parents, and students across 50 countries, as well as from more than 400 studies, the researchers found at this point, \u201crisks of utilizing generative AI in children\u2019s education overshadow its benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report gave credence to early research\u2014including a February 2025 \u2014finding AI use was associated with worse judgement and critical thinking skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cognitive offloading, and the cognitive decline that\u2019s associated with that, the decline in critical thinking, and just even reading and writing and knowledge of basic facts\u2014I absolutely believe that,\u201d to be the case, Mary Burns, an education consultant and co-author of the Brookings Institute study, told Fortune<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Why is ?<\/h2>\n

Computer use in schools has come under recent scrutiny following a Congressional testimony in January from neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath, who noted, citing Program for International Student Assessment data, that Gen Z is the first generation in modern history to be less cognitively capable than their parents. He blamed unfettered access to classroom technology, noting a stark correlation in lower standardized testing scores and more screen time in school. A 2014 study surveying 3,000 university students found that two-thirds of the time students spend on their screens were on off-task activities. <\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is not a debate about rejecting technology,\u201d Horvath said in his written testimony. \u201cIt is a question of aligning educational tools with how human learning actually works. Evidence indicates that indiscriminate digital expansion has weakened learning environments rather than strengthened them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horvath, author of the 2025 book The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids\u2019 Learning\u2014and How to Help Them Thrive Again,<\/em> told Fortune <\/em>the rise of EdTech was a result of tech companies creating a narrative around the need for screens in the classroom to bolster learning. The push for computers in schools began in 2002, when Maine became the first state to introduce a statewide program providing laptops to schoolchildren in the classroom. Following a slow rollout, Google began reaching out to educators to test its low-cost Chromebook with free Google apps, and asked teachers and administrators to promote the product. In partnership with schools, Google\u2019s Chromebook became commonplace in classrooms, accounting for more than half of digital devices sent to schools in 2017.<\/p>\n

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There have been more than 100 years of evidence showing the failures of automated learning, Horvath argued, beginning with the 1924 invention of the \u201cteaching machine\u201d by Ohio State University psychology professor Sidney Pressey. Students learned to answer the questions the machine would generate when fed a piece of paper, but were unable to generalize that knowledge outside the device.<\/p>\n

Read more MIT AI expert warns automating Gen Z entry-level jobs could backfire\u2014and cost companies their future workforce<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cKids would be very good so long as they were using the tool, but as soon as they went off the tool, they couldn\u2019t do it anymore,\u201d Horvath said.<\/p>\n

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Burns, the education consultant, said AI was, in some ways, a natural extension of the argument tech companies have made about the need for computers in school, which is that students are able to learn at their own pace, or seek out information of interest to them to initiate their own learning.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Tech] companies keep talking about, AI is personalizing learning,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s personalizing learning. I think it\u2019s individualizing learning. There\u2019s a difference there, and that\u2019s kind of a classic carryover from educational technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

?<\/h2>\n

According to Horvath, student AI use is not conducive to learning because it mirrors the failures of the 20th century \u201cteaching machines.\u201d Students\u2019 learning was individualized\u2014they answered questions from the device at their own pace and independently from other students\u2014but were unable to synthesize knowledge taught outside the device. Similarly, Horvath said, giving AI to students without clear instructions or parameters teaches students how to rely on the device, not their own critical thinking. A University of Wisconsin survey published last month found that of 303 educators and school professionals in the state and 132 education professionals across the country, less than one-third reported implementing policies or guardrails around AI use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tools experts use to make their lives easier are not the tools children should use to learn how to become experts,\u201d Horvath said. \u201cWhen you use offloading tools that experts use to make their lives easier as a novice, as a student, you don\u2019t learn the skill. You simply learn dependency.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Burns\u2014a proponent of EdTech\u2014said it\u2019s futile to eschew the technology altogether. The Brookings Institute study found that despite educators having real fear that students will use AI to cheat, teachers are using AI to create lesson plans. Data on AI in the classroom is limited, but there are benefits, she added. For English language learners, for example, teachers can use AI to alter the lexile level of a reading passage.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo say that technologies are a failure is not true,\u201d Burns said. \u201cTo say technology is a mixed bag is true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more A weak yen turned Tokyo into a steal. A strong shekel turned Tel Aviv into the world\u2019s most expensive city to buy McDonald\u2019s<\/a><\/p>\n

A version of this story was published on Fortune.com on March 14, 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

More on AI in schools:<\/h3>\n
    \n
  • 84% of students use AI for homework. Only 3 in 10 schools have rules for it<\/li>\n
  • AI didn\u2019t break higher education\u2014It exposed the credential trap<\/li>\n
  • Exclusive: Doctors and education experts who studied AI\u2019s impact on the young call for a 5-year moratorium in schools<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A major Brookings Institute study of more than 500 students and educators found the risks of AI in the classroom \u201covershadow its benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education"],"yoast_head":"\nAmerica\u2019s math and reading scores tanked after schools ditched textbooks for screens\u2014and AI could worsen the brain rot - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3770\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"America\u2019s math and reading scores tanked after schools ditched textbooks for screens\u2014and AI could worsen the brain rot - 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