Alaska students continue to struggle in math and reading, according to ‘Nation's Report Card'
The halls are lined with lockers and portraits of elders at the Anna Tobeluk Memorial School in Nunapitchuk, Alaska. October 12, 2023. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska public school students are continuing to struggle in math and reading proficiency, as measured by a national standardized test known as the 'The Nation's Report Card.'
The National Assessment of Education Progress is a congressionally mandated test which evaluates students' proficiency in reading, math, science and writing. Students are selected at random for the test, as a representative sample for their state. Tests are conducted every two years and administered to fourth, eighth and twelfth grade students. The latest test score report was released on Jan. 29.
In 2024, Alaska's fourth and eighth grade students showed no significant progress from two years ago in reading and math, continuing a general downward trend over the last 20 years.
For fourth grade reading, almost half, or 47% of students scored at or above the NAEP basic reading level in 2024. Twenty-two percent of students scored at or above the NAEP proficient level.
The average score for fourth graders' reading was 202, lower than the national average of 214 out of 500, putting Alaska below most of the nation at 51st of 52 U.S. jurisdictions, which include the 50 states as well the District of Columbia and Department of Defense operated schools. Students in Puerto Rico are assessed in some NAEP tests, but not included in the fourth grade reading comparison. New Mexico was the only jurisdiction with a lower score.
For 8th grade reading, 57% of students score at or above basic level, a decline from two years ago, when 63% of students scored at or above basic. Twenty-two percent scored at or above proficient level, also a decline from 26% scoring at a proficient level in 2022.
Alaska eighth graders' average reading score was 246, below the national average of 257, also ranking 51st in the nation, ahead of New Mexico.
For math, fourth grade students scored slightly better, with 64% scoring at or above the NAEP basic level, and 30% at or above proficient level. Scores were not significantly different from two years ago. The average score was 226, below the national average score of 237, ranking 51st of 53 in the nation, ahead of New Mexico and Puerto Rico.
For 8th grade math, 54% of students scored at or above the NAEP basic level, and 22% scored at or above proficient levels. Scores declined since 2022, when 59% of students scored at or above basic levels, and 23% scored at or above proficient. The average score for math was 264, below the national average of 272, a decline since 2022 of 270. Alaska ranked 43rd out of 53 nationwide.
In 2024, male students had lower scores than female students in reading among fourth and eighth grade students — by 7 percentage points among fourth graders and 12 points among eighth graders.
Vice versa for math, female students scored lower than male students among fourth and eighth graders — by 7 percentage points among fourth graders and by just 1 point among eighth graders.
Students who identified as socioeconomically disadvantaged had an average score that was 25 points lower than those who did not, for fourth grade reading. For eighth graders, those students had an average score that was 22 points lower for reading.
For math, the gap was wider. Students who identified as belonging to socioeconomically disadvantaged groups scored 25 points lower among fourth graders, and 29 points lower among eighth graders.
Nationally, reading scores continued to decline between 2022 and 2024 in both fourth and eighth grades. Math scores showed no measurable difference in eighth grade.
'The Nation's Report Card is out and the news is not good,' said Peggy Carr, the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, on a news conference call last week to discuss the 2024 results. The center is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Education that collects and analyzes education statistics.
'We are not seeing the progress we need to regain the ground our students lost during the pandemic,' Carr said.
Low reading proficiency is particularly concerning, she said.
Carr emphasized the lower performance level is not just due to lapses during the COVID-19 pandemic – reading scores have declined beginning in 2017. Reading performance continued to drop for both fourth and eighth grades through the pandemic to 2022. The lowest performers are struggling the most, she added.
'In 2024, the percentage of eighth graders reading below NAEP basic was the highest in the assessment history, at 33%, and the percentage of fourth graders scoring below NAEP basic was the highest in 20 years: 40%. This is a major concern,' she said.
The reasons why reading performance is dropping are complex, she said, and varies across the country. Carr pointed to student absenteeism, as well as a decline in students pursuing reading for enjoyment.
'Our students, for the most part, continue to perform below pre-pandemic levels, and our children's reading skills continue to slide in both grades and subjects, and most notably, our nation's struggling readers continue to decline the most,' Carr said.
The nation's math scores show a mixed picture.
'Where we are seeing signs of the recovery, they're mostly in math and largely driven by higher performing students,' she added. 'Lower performing students are struggling.'
Scores increased in the 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles, and a higher percentage of students scored at or above proficiency levels.
'Math performance has increased, but only among fourth graders and higher performing eighth graders,' Carr said. 'There's a widening achievement gap in this country, and it has worsened since the pandemic, especially for grade eight.'
While national scores have trended upward over the last 30 years, the overall average scores last year dropped below 2019 scores. Carr called for attention to student learning, especially to those struggling the most.
'We all need to come together as partners to catch these students up and improve achievement,' she said. 'And these results, as sobering as they are, show that once you unpack them, there is hope.'
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20 hours ago
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5 days ago
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Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Literacy rates are declining, screen time is increasing, and experts are sounding the alarm on the death of parents reading to their children. Though it is critical for their cognitive development, there has been a significant drop in parents, particularly those from younger generations such as Gen Z, reading to their children, and fewer are doing so for pleasure. As the alarm sounds on what could be a burgeoning literacy crisis, Newsweek spoke to the experts to find out more. Reading Time Down, Screen Time Up Recent research and data have shown there is a clear pattern among young children and the media that they are consuming: reading is on the decline, and screen time is on the up. Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty/Canva On average, children aged 8 to 12 spend between four and six hours watching and using screens each day, and teenagers can spend up to nine hours on screens, according to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Screen Time and Children In 1984, the first year that data is available for, 35 percent of 13-year-olds reported that they were reading for fun "almost everyday." By 2023, this figure had dropped to 14 percent, as per the NAEP. NAEP Long-Term Trends: Student Experiences A recent survey from HarperCollins UK found that there is a pronounced disinterest in reading aloud for younger parents. Less than half of parents of children up to 13 years old describe reading aloud to kids as being "fun," for them; and 29 percent of children aged 5 to 13 think that reading is more "a subject to learn," than "a fun thing to do." 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She added: "Book-sharing also supports children's early language development, both in terms of the vocabulary used in the book and children's skill in answering questions and telling stories." Stock photo: A person reads at the Rice University Library on April 26, 2022 in Houston, Texas. Stock photo: A person reads at the Rice University Library on April 26, 2022 in Houston, Maryanne Wolf, the director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice and professor-in-residence at the University of California, told Newsweek over email: "Few realize the multiple linguistic, cognitive, social-emotional, and neurological contributions made by the simple act of reading daily to one's young child---beginning from the first moments they can sit upon a lap. 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Neuman, professor of Childhood Education and Literacy Development at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, told Newsweek that, in settings where families aren't reading aloud, and books aren't present, "more often than not, children do not experience lots of things." "The scholarly culture that surrounds them early on, helping them establish a reading habit, less ability to attend to a storybook reading in school contexts, a limited understanding of the purpose of reading—joy, information, imagination," Neuman said. "Given what we know about early learning impacting on children's later development," Houston-Price said, "we should be giving young children the very best start in life, which includes opportunities to share books." How Can Reading Be Reintegrated Into Daily Routines? So, what should parents be doing to help reintegrate reading? Neuman said, "Parents should limit children's use of digital media," and should "consider a routine of reading to children regularly." Other tips for parents include carrying "books with them wherever they go," as well as "spending time reading themselves," which, in turn, provides a "good model of reading enjoyment to children." And technology isn't necessarily the enemy here. Rabagliati told Newsweek: "There are also some great technological solutions, like screen-free Yoto Players. These provide some of the same benefits of reading aloud, but don't require the parents to become a human audiobook." Houston-Price said that parents should make sure there are "age-appropriate books around the house that children can access." She added: "Regular visits to a local library might help to ensure there is variety on offer, but remember that young children enjoy repetition much more than adults do, so be prepared to read the same book over and over again. "Look at a book for just a few minutes at a time with very young children, or for as long as they are keen to," Houston-Price said, adding: "There's no need to read a book cover to cover or to read every line." She also noted: "Many children enjoy the routine of a story at bedtime, so perhaps let your child choose a book and take a few minutes to have a cuddle and a read before bed."
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6 days ago
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