In the midst of the 2020 Covid pandemic, a Pew Research Center article said that Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012, were “on track to be the most well-educated generation yet.”
That awkwardly phrased statement, “the most well-educated generation,” deserves a good hard look, not only for the good of the people in Gen Z, but the good of the nation as well.
Consider, for starters, that a 2025 report from the U.S. Department of Education reveals that reading and math scores among students in the fourth and eighth grades continue to decline, with blame for that tumble assigned to the COVID school shutdowns.
But while COVID certainly affected the scores on these national tests, our schools were already failing to prepare many students for college or for the work force. Pew Research Center’s 2017 analysis of educational data, for instance, found that American students ranked in the middle of academic achievement compared to other nations around the globe, faring even more poorly when compared to students from other industrialized countries. Given these results, perhaps the best word describing Gen Z students’ academic performance would be mediocre.
Incidentally, a pop-up questionnaire accompanying both the 2020 and the 2017 Pew articles asks, “How easy to understand is the information on this page?” with possible responses ranging from “Extremely easy” to “Not easy at all.” To ask that question about articles which any high school graduate should be able to interpret without difficulty is in itself a negative, and inadvertently humorous, comment on American education.
Nor do our colleges and universities give any sign that Gen Z is “the most well-educated generation yet.” Under the pseudonym Hilarious Bookbinder, a professor at a regional state university writes that many students are functionally illiterate when it comes to understanding literature, including modern novels by the likes of Pulitzer Prize winter Barbara Kingsolver and Richard Powers. These undergraduates have difficulty getting through such books, and many of them apparently don’t even make the effort, looking instead for online summations of the required reading.
As Bookbinder further notes, student composition skills are also dismally below par. Moreover, he reveals what is already widely known, that many students resort to ChatGPT to write their papers. This type of cheating is apparently epidemic on many of our college campuses.
Academic Patrick Keeney reflects on Bookbinder’s argument, adding this key point: We are not educating many of today’s students in any traditional sense of that word, instead, “At best, we are merely credentialing them.” [Emphasis added.] In other words, today’s students receive degrees rather than a true education. And unfortunately, a large number of these students are unaware of the difference. They bring to mind an old joke: those sheepskins they’ve gotten have pulled the wool over their eyes.
Finally, that term “the most well-educated generation” ignores the horrible rates of functional illiteracy and failure in our inner-city school systems like Detroit and Chicago. Nevertheless, most of these students will receive a diploma.
My intention is not to insult or denigrate the young people of Generation Z. I know many of them – I have taught some of them – and they are well-read and intelligent, the products, for the most part, of home schools, hybrid schools, private academies, and small colleges. In elementary school, they mastered the basics of phonics, grammar and arithmetic; in secondary school and college, they acquired the arts of logic and reason. The good news is that more students than ever are receiving this sort of traditional education, with their parents and teachers leading the way.
No – my intention here is to point out the dangers of that clunky and demonstrably false pat on the back, “the most well-educated generation.” That label breeds arrogance and self-satisfaction. It also turns a blind eye to the hundreds of thousands of Gen Z students who continue to graduate from high school or college weak in the very skills necessary for forging ahead in life, skills they supposedly spent years of their lives acquiring.
For their sake, and for the sake of our republic, parents, teachers, and other mentors must keep their own eyes wide open. They must resolve to support and encourage those schools and methods that give students a meaningful education, rather than simply maintaining the status quo, comforting themselves with “the most well-educated generation” mantra. The evidence otherwise simply doesn’t allow us to keep lying to ourselves.
Jeff Minick is a father of four and grandfather to many. A former history, literature, and Latin teacher, Jeff now writes prolifically for The Epoch Times, American Essence Magazine, and several other publications.
This culture article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal, a project of 1819 News. To comment on this article, please email [email protected]. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News.
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