The latest results from the so-called Nation’s Report Card are out, and they paint a sobering picture of academic achievement across the country.
The National Center for Education Statistics has released the latest results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation’s Report Card, showing declines in 12th-grade math and reading and in eighth-grade science, continuing trends that go back even before the pandemic.
“I will not speculate today about the potential causes of these trends,” said NCES Acting Director Matthew Soldner. “But I will share this concern with you: These results should galvanize all of us to take concerted, focused action to accelerate student learning.”
The results echo similar findings released earlier this year for fourth- and eighth-grade math and reading scores on the NAEP exam, which also showed declines. At the time, former Commissioner Peggy Carr pointed to widening gaps between high- and low-performing students as one of the biggest drivers of the decline. Soldner said these latest results reflected a similar trend.
“I am most certainly neither a journalist nor an editor, but let me say to you what, to me at least, is the headline for today's release,” Soldner said. “Scores for our lowest performing students are at historic lows, continuing declines that began more than a decade ago.”
It’s the first time these specific tests have been administered since 2019, marking the first post-pandemic results in these subjects. Unlike the fourth- and eighth-grade results, which included state-by-state scores and scores for select districts, including Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, these results are reported only nationally.
Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, said the state-by-state results are congressionally mandated for the fourth- and eighth-grade math and reading results, but not for this latest batch of exams.
“We have, on occasion in the past, been able to report state-level data when we have had the budget to do so and when states have volunteered to do so,” Muldoon said. “That was not on the schedule for this year.”
Historically, some observers have questioned how reliable the 12th-grade NAEP exams are, and how much students prepare for them, given that the NAEP exam is not tied to any true academic consequences, and that it’s administered to students in the spring of their senior year. Soldner conceded the exam is a “low-stakes” test for seniors, but argued the exam’s high completion rate of over 90% suggests students take it seriously.
“You might imagine that there would be a disincentive, or not a strong incentive, for 12th graders to finish this test,” Soldner said, responding to media questions on Monday. “This is January through March of their senior year, to your point, it's low stakes. But if they consent to take the test, they really do complete it.”
Eighth-grade science
The NAEP exam tested a nationally representative sample of 23,000 eighth-grade students throughout the country. Scores range from 0 to 300. The average score fell from 154 in 2019 to 150.
This is the first time science scores have declined since this iteration of the test debuted in 2009, and it brings the average score back to where it was at that time.
Students who perform in the lowest-performing 10th and 25th percentiles are now scoring below where they were in 2009.
“Notably, for eighth-grade science, the gap between the highest and lowest-performing students is larger now than ever before,” Soldner said.
The NAEP exam uses three proficiency benchmarks: NAEP Basic is the lowest, followed by NAEP Proficient and then NAEP Advanced. These benchmarks do not translate to grade-level proficiency standards set by individual states, like those reflected in test results released by North Carolina last week.
The percentage of students scoring below the NAEP Basic level increased starkly from 33% to 38%.
12th-Grade math
The math results come from 19,300 12th graders spanning around 1,500 schools. This year’s scores fell from 150 to 147 — marking the lowest average score on record, dating back to 2005.
Similarly, 45% of 12th graders fell below the NAEP Basic level, which Soldner said was “the largest percentage we have ever seen for this assessment.”
“To understand what this means practically, a 12th grader below NAEP Basic is unlikely to be able to use a 2-by-2 table to determine the probability of an event,” Soldner said.
The results again showed stark differences between high- and low-performing students. Scores declined for all percentiles except for students at the 90th percentile.
12th-grade reading
Roughly 24,300 12th graders took the reading assessment from approximately 1,500 schools. Test scores fell three points to 283 between 2019 and 2024. They are down nearly 10 points since the test first started being administered in 1992.
All percentiles have seen declines in reading scores from 2019 and from 1992, except for the 90th percentile. Once again, the results show a record percentage of students — 32% — are performing below the NAEP Basic level.
“Again, to understand what that means, practically, a student who is below NAEP Basic is unlikely to be able to use context to determine the meaning of an unknown word or phrase in a passage,” Soldner said.
