RALEIGH — America’s children have continued to lose ground on reading skills in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and have made little improvement in math, according to the latest results of an exam known as the nation’s report card.
The findings are yet another setback for U.S. schools and reflect the myriad challenges that have upended education, from pandemic school closures to a youth mental health crisis and high rates of chronic absenteeism. The national exam results also show growing inequality: While the highest-performing students have started to regain lost ground, lower-performing students are falling further behind.
Given every two years the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card, is administered to fourth and eighth grade students around the country. The 2024 NAEP tests given in the states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense schools, and 26 participating large urban districts in the areas of Math and Reading.
“The news is not good,” said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which oversees the assessment. “We are not seeing the progress we need to regain the ground our students lost during the pandemic.”
Among the few bright spots was an improvement in fourth grade math, where the average score ticked up 2 points on a scale of 500. It’s still 3 points lower than the 2019 pre-pandemic average, yet some states and districts made significant strides, including in Washington, D.C., where the average score increased 10 points.
For the most part, however, American schools have not yet begun to make progress.
The average math score for eighth grade students was unchanged from 2022, while reading scores fell 2 points at both grade levels. One-third of eighth grade students scored below “basic” in reading, more than ever in the history of the assessment.
Students are considered below basic if they are missing fundamental skills. For example, eighth grade students who scored below basic in reading were typically unable to make a simple inference about a character’s motivation after reading a short story, and some were unable to identify that the word “industrious” means “to be hard working.”
Especially alarming to officials was the divide between higher- and lower-performing students, which has grown wider than ever. Students with the highest scores outperformed their peers from two years ago, making up some ground lost during the pandemic. But the lowest performers are scoring even lower, falling further behind.
It was most pronounced in eighth grade math: While the top 10% of students saw their scores increased by 3 points, the lowest 10% decreased by 6 points.
“We are deeply concerned about our low-performing students,” said Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policies for the exam. “For a decade, these students have been on the decline. They need our urgent attention and our best effort.”
The latest setbacks follow a historic backslide in 2022. In that year’s exam, student achievement fell across both subjects and grade levels, in some cases by unprecedented levels.
This round of testing again featured students whose lives were disrupted by the pandemic. When COVID hit in 2020, the fourth graders were in kindergarten, and the eighth graders were in fourth grade.
But Carr said poor results can no longer be blamed solely on the pandemic, warning that the nation’s education system faces “complex challenges.”
A survey done alongside the exam found in 2022 that fewer young students were reading for enjoyment, which is linked to lower reading scores. And new survey results found that students who are often absent from class — a persistent problem nationwide — are struggling the most.
“The data are clear,” Carr said. “Students who don’t come to school are not improving.”
The results provide fresh fuel for a national debate over the impact of pandemic school closures, though they’re unlikely to add clarity. Some studies have found that longer closures led to bigger academic setbacks. Those slower to reopen were often in urban and Democratic-led areas, while more rural and Republican-led areas were quicker.
The new results don’t show a “direct link” on the topic, Carr said, though she said students clearly do better when they’re in school.
Among the states that saw reading scores fall in 2024 are Florida and Arizona, which were among the first to return to the classroom during the pandemic. Meanwhile, some big school systems that had longer closures made strides in fourth grade math, including Los Angeles and New York City.
The success of big urban districts — 14 of which saw notable improvement in fourth-grade math when the nation as a whole saw only minor gains — can be credited to academic recovery efforts funded by federal pandemic relief, said Ray Hart, executive director of the Council of Great City Schools. Investing in efforts like intensive tutoring programs and curriculum updates is “really proving to make a difference,” he said.
Republicans in Congress were quick to cast blame on Democrats and former President Joe Biden’s administration.
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said the decline is “clearly a reflection of the education bureaucracy continuing to focus on woke policies rather than helping students learn and grow.”
“I’m thankful we have an administration that is looking to reverse course,” he said in a reference to President Donald Trump.
Compared with 2019 results, eighth grade reading scores are now down 8 points. Reading scores are down 5 points in both grades. And in fourth grade math, scores are down 3 points.
Yet officials say there’s reason to be optimistic. Carr highlighted improvement in Louisiana, where fourth grade reading is now back above pre-pandemic levels, and in Alabama, which accomplished that feat in fourth grade math.
Carr was especially laudatory of Louisiana, where a campaign to improve reading proficiency resulted in both higher- and lower-performing students exceeding 2019 scores.
“I would not say that hope is lost, and I would not say that we cannot turn this around,” Carr said. “It’s been demonstrated that we can.”
North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools and Guilford County Public Schools were among the 26 urban areas included in this year’s report.
The state’s average scores for Math and Reading in grades four and eight landed in the middle of the pack with scores similar to the national averages and with very modest math gains in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Click the images below for a larger view.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools Summary
Fourth Grade
The average Math score was 240, which is higher than its 2022 average score of 234 and higher than this year’s average score for large cities of 231.
The percentage of students who performed at or above the NAEP Proficient Math level was 43%, which is significantly higher than in 2022 (35%). Students performing at or above the NAEP Basic level was 75% which is up slightly from 2022 (71%), however; in 2003 it was 84%.
The average Reading score was 214, which is only one point higher than in 2022 and is a five point drop compared to 2003.
The percentage of students who performed at or above the NAEP Proficient Reading level was 31%, which is a two point drop over 2022 (33 percent) and the same score as in 2003. Students at or above the NAEP Basic level was 58, a one point drop from 2022 and a six point drop from 2003.
Eighth Grade
The average Math score was 275, which was nine points higher than the average for students in large cities. That’s three points down from 2022 and four points down compared to 2003.
The percentage of students who performed at or above the NAEP Proficient Math level was 32%, which is up slightly from 2022 (30%) and is the same percentage recorded in 2003. Students at or above the NAEP Basic level was 59%, which is a drop from 64% in 2022 and 67% in 2003.
The average Reading score was 254, which is two points higher than the average for students in large cities but is a four point drop from the district score in 2022 of 258 as well as being an eight point decrease from 2003.
The percentage of students performing at or above the NAEP Proficient Reading level was just 27%, which is down from 29% in 2022 and down from 30% in 2003. Students coming in at or above the NAEP Basic level was 63%, representing a four point from 2022 and an eight point compared to 2003’s 71%.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools Data
Guilford County Public Schools Summary
Fourth Grade
The average Math score was 237, a full six points higher than the score of 231 for students in large cities. The average score was also higher than 2022 (229).
The percentage of students performing at or above the NAEP Proficient Math level was 40%, representing a significant increase over 2022’s 28% and but still lower than 42% in 2017. Students who performed at or above the NAEP Basic level was 75%, an eight point jump from 2022 but still below 79% in 2017.
The average Reading score was 212 and the average score for students in large cities was 208.
In 2022 that score was 211 and in 2017 it was 222.
The percentage of students performing at or above the NAEP Proficient Reading level was only 30%. In 2022 it was 27% and in 2017 it was 37%. Students coming in at or above the NAEP Basic level was 56%, which is the same as 2022 but down from 67% in 2017.
Eighth Grade
The average Math score was 269, which was three points higher than that of students in large cities. That district’s average score was down a point from 2022 and was seven points lower compared to 2017.
Students performing at or above the NAEP Proficient Math level was just 25%. In 2022 it was 22% and in 2017 it was 31%. Students coming in at or above the NAEP Basic level was 54%, which is down from 57% in 2022 and down from 61% in 2017.
The average Reading score was 253; one point higher than the average for students in large cities. In 2022, that score was 252 and is lower than the average score in of 260 in 2017.
The percentage of students performing at or above the NAEP Proficient Reading level was just 25%, which is a small increase of two points over 2022 but represents a five point drop compared to 2017. Students coming in at or above the NAEP Basic level was 62%. That’s a one point increase over 2022 but a seven point decrease compared to 2017.
Guilford County Public Schools Data
Associated Press’ Annie Ma contributed reporting from Washington, and Sharon Lurye contributed from New Orleans.
North State Journal’s A.P. Dillon contributed North Carolina’s results to this report.
