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The Hill
12-02-2025
- General
- The Hill
Education report reveals which states have seen biggest drops in reading, math scores
(NEXSTAR) – While some schools are starting to claw back some of the ground lost due to pandemic-era learning disruptions, there's still a ways to go, a new report finds. The Nation's Report Card, released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), compares fourth and eighth grade test scores in school districts around the country. The report shows fourth graders have made small gains in math scores over the past two years (though they're still short of 2019 test scores), but eighth graders' math scores haven't budged. The situation is even more grim with reading scores, which dropped further in 2024 for fourth graders and eighth graders. Could soda, beer prices rise amid aluminum tariffs? 'Overall, student achievement has not returned to pre-pandemic performance,' said NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr in a press release. 'Where there are signs of recovery, they are mostly in math and largely driven by higher-performing students. Lower-performing students are struggling, especially in reading.' State-by-state results While some states are taking small steps forward, it appears others are falling behind, the report card found. With math scores in public schools, most states saw no significant change between 2022 and 2024. One state, Nebraska, saw scores drop for fourth graders. At the eighth-grade level, four states saw test scores drop: Alaska, Idaho, Florida, and Nevada. Students in more states are struggling with reading, the report found. Fourth graders in Arizona, Florida, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Vermont saw test scores drop from 2022 to 2024. Eighth-grade reading scores dropped in many of the same states, plus a few more: Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Nevada, Utah and Vermont. When will flu season end? The rest of the states saw 'no significant change.' Not a single state was found to have significantly boosted reading scores over those two years, though one city – Atlanta – was found to have made some progress. In some cases, it's hard to tell if students are making progress or if states are just changing their standards. For example, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Florida seem to have relaxed their proficiency cutoff in math and reading in the last two years, Tom Kane, a Harvard economist, told the Associated Press. The Education Recovery Scorecard analysis, by researchers at Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth, shows the average student remains half a grade level behind pre-pandemic achievement in both reading and math. Within states, the gap between high-performing students and struggling students is also generally widening. 'The pandemic has not only driven test scores down, but that decline masks a pernicious inequality that has grown during the pandemic,' said Sean Reardon, a Stanford sociologist who worked on the scorecard. 'Not only are districts serving more Black and Hispanic students falling further behind, but even within those districts, Black and Hispanic students are falling further behind their white districtmates.'
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Latest reading and math scores for NC schools bring mixed news
() Math performance in North Carolina has slightly improved since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted schooling, but reading scores remain below pre-pandemic levels, according to new data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Education. This trend mirrors national results, where the percentage of students testing at or above the 'basic' level has been declining over the past decade. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the 'Nation's Report Card,' assesses student achievement in reading and math every two years among a representative sample of fourth- and eighth-graders nationwide. Nationally, fourth-grade math scores improved, while eighth-grade math scores remained unchanged. North Carolina's math scores are above the national average, but the state's reading scores are below the national average. The data also reveal a widening achievement gap between high- and low-performing students. Nationally, average scores declined in both 4th and 8th grade reading, with the lowest performing students —those at the 25th and 10th percentile— scoring lower than their counterparts 30 years ago. 'These results clearly show that students are not where we need them to be or where we want them to be,' NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr said during a town hall Wednesday afternoon. However, there were some bright spots. Two states – Alabama and Louisiana – exceeded their pre-pandemic 4th-grade reading scores. Additionally, student absenteeism, which worsened during the pandemic, showed signs of improvement in 2024. North Carolina's new Superintendent of Public Instruction, Mo Green said this data show the ongoing impact of the pandemic on students. 'These students had their learning disrupted during a critical time in their early education. While it is always disappointing to see a lack of progress, the NAEP data tracks with trends we're seeing in state-level end-of-grade testing,' Green said. 'The widening achievement gap between our highest performing students and those with greater needs adds another layer of urgency to the work my team and I will be doing over the next four years to inspire excellence in our public schools.' Green noted that the 2024 NAEP assessment, administered in the first quarter of that year, may not fully reflect the progress made in literacy education with the implementation of the 'science of reading' program — an initiative that changes how K-5 teachers teach students to read — in North Carolina schools. Between 2021 and June 2024, more than 44,000 teachers, administrators and coaches completed K-5 or early childhood Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, or LETRS®, professional development course, according to the Department of Public Instruction. According to DPI, the initiative is already beginning to bear fruit. Early literacy skills are showing improvement, with North Carolina students outperforming their peers nationally in grades 1-3 on the DIBELS 8 assessment. 'We can see in our DIBELS data that K-3 teachers are now laying a solid foundation for students' literacy skills,' Green said. 'While much can occur during the next two years, I am optimistic that this foundation of early literacy skills will be reflected in the 2026 NAEP results.' Results from the 2024 NAEP Reading and Mathematics Assessments at Grades 4 and 8 compared to 2022: Average score increased in mathematics at grade 4; no significant change at grade 8 Average scores declined in reading at both grades No significant change for most states in both subjects and grades Lower percentages of students absent 5 or more days in both subjects and grades
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Mountain State scores in reading and math are getting better, national study shows
Jan. 29—Call it a post-COVID push of the good kind. West Virginia's fourth-and eighth-graders in 2024 continued to inch steady improvements in reading and math scores, despite big losses wrought by the pandemic in previous years. That's according to the Nation's Report Card, released Wednesday by the National Center for Education Statistics, which charts the academic fortunes of students in the U.S. and Department of Defense Schools across the globe. While students in the Mountain State had academic victories, their counterparts elsewhere were languishing, said Peggy G. Carr, the center's commissioner. "Overall, student achievement has not returned to pre-pandemic performance, " Carr continued. "Where there are signs of recovery, they are mostly in math and largely driven by higher-performing students, " she said. "Lower-performing students are struggling — especially in reading." The national average in fourth-grade math, the report card shows, is 237. West Virginia's fourth-graders came in with a collective 232. Eighth-graders across the Mountain State netted an average 261 in math, versus the 272, nationwide. Reading scores for West Virginia's fourth-graders came in at 206, compared to the 214 among their peers across the country. The net reading score of 247 for the eighth grade class here was 10 points lower than the rest of the nation at 257. County-by-county breakdowns aren't shown in this particular snapshot, but Monongalia County students, as shown in more defined assessments, generally outpace their neighbors in West Virginia. Two years ago, for example, nearly 63 % of local students achieved proficiency in English compared to the 55 % showing statewide in those same subjects. More than 61 % of students did the same, compared to the collective 51 % elsewhere in West Virginia.
CBS News
29-01-2025
- General
- CBS News
Academic trends in Nation's Report Card show improvement in some subjects
(CBS DETROIT) - Detroit Public Schools Community District shared some promising student academic results through scores in the latest national student report card. The National Assessment of Educational Progress report issued Wednesday included 2024's grade 4 math and reading average scores, along with grade 8 math and reading average scores, from across the country, including a sampling of Michigan students. The trends, now that four years have passed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, are that recovery is mostly has been seen in math and "largely driven by higher-performing students," National Center for Education Studies Commissioner Peggy G. Carr said in the press release. "Overall, student achievement has not returned to pre-pandemic performance," she said. "Lower-performing students are struggling, especially in reading." The Nation's Report Card is different from state-specific testing schedules and requirements such as Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, or M-STEP. The national tests are handled every two years by the Institute of Education Sciences, a division of the U.S. Department of Education; and its testing data goes back to 2003. The data then is reported by state and in some cases, by district. One of the issues lingering in student learning across the country is absenteeism. The Nation's Report Card explained that while absentee rates have backed off from 2022, they are not to pre-pandemic levels. Locally, DPSCD related the following details: Detroit saw a 2 point decline in fourth-grade reading scores from 2022 to 2024, a detail that is "not statistically significant" especially in comparison to other districts. "4th grade students unfortunately experienced significant learning loss during critical years of literacy foundation development due to pandemic online learning," district officials said. Detroit saw a 6 point improvement in 4th grade math scores from 2022 to 2024, which outpaced the improvement shown by national public, large city districts, and state averages. Detroit saw a 2.4-point improvement in 8th grade reading, while the national public, large city districts, and the state averages declined. Detroit saw a decline of 1.1 points in 8th grade math from 2022 to 2024, while national public, large urban school district, and state averages declined as well. "Our 8th grade reading and 4th grade math 2024 NAEP results reflect the improvement that we are seeing on all state assessment results over the last two years since the pandemic. We are now in the conversation as an improving large urban school district, but we still have plenty of work to do," Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Nation's Report Card shows Oklahoma academic results are stagnant
Students exit the Jenks Public Schools Math and Science Center on Nov. 13. Oklahoma schools showed no significant change from two years ago in their reading and math scores on the Nation's Report Card. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice) OKLAHOMA CITY — Nationwide testing shows Oklahoma continued to lag behind the national average in reading and math scores in 2024, and the state's academic performance had little improvement since 2022. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as Nation's Report Card, tests fourth and eighth graders in reading and math in each state every two years. Results from across the country, including Oklahoma, in 2024 remained below pre-pandemic performance. Only 23% of fourth graders and 20% of eighth graders in Oklahoma performed at a proficient level in reading on the NAEP tests, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the assessments. Nationally, fourth-grade reading scores declined while Oklahoma held steady, though the state still fell below the national average of 30% scoring proficiently. Eighth-grade scores also came short of the 29% national average. The state and national averages for eighth grade reading showed no significant change compared to 2022 results. Oklahoma, like most states, also lacked any significant difference in its math scores compared to two years ago, NAEP scores show. Thirty-one percent of Oklahoma fourth graders and 17% of eighth graders made a proficient score on the NAEP math assessments. The national average rose to 39% proficiency in fourth-grade math, and national eighth-grade results showed little change at 27%. Academic performance and chronic absenteeism rates across the United States remain worse than NAEP results from 2019, the last time students took the assessments before the COVID-19 pandemic. 'Overall, student achievement has not returned to pre-pandemic performance,' NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr said. 'Where there are signs of recovery, they are mostly in math and largely driven by higher-performing students. Lower-performing students are struggling, especially in reading.' NAEP assessments began in 1992, and every state is federally required to participate. The Nation's Report Card is considered the only reliable tool for state-by-state comparisons in K-12 academic achievement. That's because, outside of NAEP, each state has its own unique testing methods and definition of proficiency that are difficult to compare to one another. The Nation's Report Card gives a distinctly different look at Oklahoma's academic performance than the state's own self-assessment. State-administered testing determined 43% of Oklahoma students scored at a proficient or advanced level in reading and 32% were proficient or advanced in math for the 2023-24 school year, according to data from the Oklahoma State Department of Education. In 2024, the state reset its expectations for student performance on yearly reading and math exams. Documents the state Department of Education released show students could score lower and still be considered proficient. This resulted in dramatically higher proficiency rates, particularly in English language arts. Without context, it gave an impression of significant improvements in school performance. The scoring change also reversed the heightened expectations that Oklahoma set in 2017 to align its standards more closely with NAEP's. Internal documents the Education Department did not release to the public, which Oklahoma Voice obtained, revealed that statewide English and math results would have been similar to the previous year's scores if proficiency expectations had not been adjusted. The state's 2024 NAEP results also reflect stagnant improvement. The state Education Department released annual reading and math test results over the summer without explaining that a statistically significant change had taken place in Oklahoma's scoring system. The agency still has not formally announced the scoring change and in recent months has declined to comment on it, even when releasing Oklahoma State Report Cards grading each public school's academic performance. NAEP tests, on the other hand, have remained consistent while states have changed their testing methods and expectations. Its reading and math assessment frameworks last changed in 2009. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
