The declines roughly tracked sliding national scores over the last two years. More than half of all states saw decreases in eighth-grade reading scores, while about a third saw declines in fourth-grade reading. Two out of three students nationally didn’t meet reading proficiency standards — results that U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos termed “devastating." And the outcomes also reflect a trend: Over the last decade, the gap between the highest- and lowest-achieving students has widened.