White paper cites data showing stalled performance for 17-year-olds, falling reading and math scores and eighth-graders below Basic in three core subjects.

STATEN ISLAND, NY, UNITED STATES, August 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- American education spent decades making little progress in long-term reading and math performance. Now, key student test scores are falling while artificial intelligence is changing workforce demands.

Business leader and educator James Prendamano calls it “The American Education Flatline,” the focus of his new white paper, “The Flatline and the Way Out: A Founder's Case for Rebuilding American Education Around Inspiration, Real-World Skills, and the Courage to Question.”
The paper examines federal education data and research on academic performance, literacy, student engagement, financial literacy, AI and workforce demands.

“We've changed almost everything about the world students are entering, but for decades we saw very little movement in long-term reading and math performance,” Prendamano said. “Now some of those results are moving in the wrong direction at the same time AI is changing the workplace. We need to change how we prepare people for what comes next.”

Decades of stalled performance followed by recent declines
Inflation-adjusted per-student spending increased approximately 140% between 1969-70 and 2014-15, according to Education Resource Strategies.
The federal government's National Assessment of Educational Progress Long-Term Trend assessment found that reading performance among 17-year-olds in 2012 was not significantly different from 1971, while mathematics performance was not significantly different from 1973.
Among 13-year-olds, average mathematics scores in 2023 were nine points lower than in 2020, the largest decline in the assessment's history. Reading scores fell four points and were roughly comparable with results from the early 1970s.
In 2024, 38% of eighth-graders scored below NAEP Basic in science, 39% in mathematics and 33% in reading, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

“We spent decades without significant improvement in some of our most important long-term measures, and now we're seeing scores fall,” Prendamano said. “That should concern every parent, educator, employer and policymaker in the country.”

An Annie E. Casey Foundation-supported study of nearly 4,000 students found that children who were not proficient readers by the end of third grade were four times more likely to leave school without earning a diploma. For low-income children reading below grade level, the risk was six times greater.
Gallup research found that about 18% of Gen Z K-12 students strongly agree that what they are learning is important, interesting and connected to their talents. About one-third most enjoy learning when it connects to the real world, while only half feel prepared for their future.

AI is changing what students need to know
Research released July 22 by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that more than one-third of entry-level jobs now require AI skills.
July research from the Bipartisan Policy Center found that job postings seeking AI skills increased 69% year over year among employment placement agencies and 55% among certified public accounting firms, with increases also reported in banking and other professional services.
America Succeeds analyzed 76 million job postings and found that 76% required at least one durable skill, including communication, leadership, critical thinking, growth mindset and fortitude.

Prendamano believes schools should teach students how to work with AI while strengthening their ability to evaluate what it produces.
“AI can give you an answer in seconds,” Prendamano said. “The real skill is knowing what question to ask, whether the answer makes sense, what's missing and how to use the information. Students need to know how to use AI, question what it gives them, check the sources and make their own judgments.”
The white paper calls for teaching AI fluency with critical thinking, including evaluating sources, weighing competing claims, identifying weak arguments and reaching conclusions based on evidence.

Six changes Prendamano says education needs
Prendamano's white paper proposes six changes while maintaining reading, writing, mathematics, history and scientific literacy as essential academic foundations.

He calls for helping students understand their strengths, values and direction; teaching practical skills such as financial literacy, communication, leadership and entrepreneurship; combining AI fluency with critical thinking; teaching students to question and evaluate information; developing confidence; and encouraging educators, parents and business leaders to test and share new approaches to learning.
Only 27% of U.S. adults correctly answered five of seven basic financial knowledge questions in 2024, according to the FINRA Investor Education Foundation.
“We need strong academic fundamentals, but preparing someone for life also means teaching them how to think, communicate, understand money, evaluate risk, use technology and solve problems,” Prendamano said. “Those are skills people are going to use long after they leave a classroom.”

Putting his ideas into practice
Prendamano has applied his approach through The Prendamano Academy, a free educational platform covering business, financial literacy and AI with hundreds of worksheets and a custom AI tutor. He is inviting educators and school districts to explore the curriculum and provide feedback.
“The world isn't going to slow down while education catches up,” Prendamano said. “We have to prepare people for the world they're entering and give them the ability to keep learning as that world changes.”

About James Prendamano
James Prendamano is an entrepreneur, real estate executive and educator with more than three decades of experience. As founder and CEO of PreReal Investments and PreReal Prendamano Real Estate, he has overseen more than $1 billion in transactional real estate.
Prendamano is leading a rural revitalization effort in Sierra County, New Mexico, that includes housing, hospitality, recreation and infrastructure. He is spearheading a statewide effort to modernize water management in New Mexico. He owns Turtleback Mountain Golf & Resort, the centerpiece of a master-planned community with more than 1,300 planned homes and host venue for the New Mexico Open Golf Championship, administered by the Sun Country Section of the PGA of America.
Prendamano is involved in philanthropic and public service initiatives. His government appointments have included service on New York City economic development committees, and he currently serves on the New Mexico Spaceport Authority Board of Directors, which oversees Spaceport America. He founded The Prendamano Academy, a free educational platform covering leadership, entrepreneurship, real estate, financial literacy, AI and personal development.

Patrick Pharris
Pharris Media, Inc.
+1 702-491-7464
patrick@pharrismedia.com
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