New test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card, show eighth-graders’ science scores have fallen 4 points since 2019 and 12th-graders’ math and reading scores have fallen 3 points in the same time period.
What to make of the test scores Reading scores dipped for 12th-graders, except among the highest-achieving students, compared with 2019, the last time this test was administered.
Compared with NAEP’s first 12th-grade reading assessment, in 1992, today’s average score is 10 points lower.
Twelfth-grade math scores dropped the same amount as reading scores and were 3 points lower than in 2005, the first time this version of the math test was administered.
So while Tuesday’s release measured student achievement under President Biden, experts avoid linking NAEP scores to any particular administration.
According to recent test results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly referred to as the Nation’s Report Card, science scores for eighth graders have decreased by four points since 2019, while math and reading scores for 12th graders have decreased by three points during the same time frame.
Between January and March of 2024, the tests were given.
Since the Trump administration started cutting the U.S. budget, this is the first time that NAEP scores have been released. S. Education Division. Among these cuts were the layoffs of over half of the staff at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the division of the department responsible for monitoring and processing test results and measuring student achievement.
The department also eliminated roughly a dozen state and national assessments of student progress through 2032, of which roughly half were intended for 12th graders, following those cuts.
NAEP is the largest nationally representative test of student learning and is required by Congress to provide data for the Nation’s Report Card. In 1969, NAEP exams were first given out.
These days, a large sample of children in the fourth and eighth grades take the math and reading tests every two years, while students in the 12th grade take them every four years. In addition, NAEP offers optional tests in subjects not covered by congressional mandate.
How to interpret the test results.
When comparing 12th graders’ reading scores to 2019, the last time this test was given, all but the highest-achieving pupils saw a decline. The current average score is 10 points lower than the 1992 NAEP’s first reading assessment for the 12th grade.
“Scores for our lowest-performing students are at historic lows — continued declines that began more than a decade ago,” IES acting director Matthew Soldner told reporters with the statement. Both my predecessor and her predecessor issued warnings about this trend. Now, I’m alerting you to this pattern. “.
Students were given reading comprehension tests and asked about opportunities to learn and read both inside and outside of the classroom in the 2024 assessment.
Math scores in the twelfth grade decreased by three points compared to 2005, when this version of the test was first given, and decreased by the same amount as reading scores.
“These findings should inspire everyone to take coordinated, targeted action to improve student learning,” Soldner stated.
The average science score for eighth graders fell 4 points from 2019 to 2019. All student scores dropped, including those of high and low performers.
The NAEP not only assesses students’ academic performance but also their attendance and comfort level with particular subjects. When compared to their 2019 counterparts, fewer eighth-graders in those surveys expressed high levels of confidence in their scientific abilities.
In 2024, almost one-third of 12th graders reported missing three or more days of school in the month before the test, which is higher than in 2019.
How student assessments are being affected by changes at the Education Department.
According to the law, the federal government has no control over the curriculum that is taught in schools. While the data released on Tuesday assessed student performance under President Biden, analysts caution against associating NAEP results with any specific administration.
The deputy director of education policy at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, Nat Malkus, says, “The federal government is in a unique position with these test scores to be the scoreboard of American education, to tell us what’s happening and for whom.”. “[That] does not imply that it can resolve these problems. The states are in charge of that. “.”.
But behind the scenes, a senior official at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which administers NAEP, said federal changes have affected the way the Nation’s Report Card is administered.
Under the condition of anonymity, the official told reporters that the cuts to the U.S. S. . According to the Education Department, NCES needed extra help from colleagues in other departments to get the new release out, as they only had two senior staff members left assigned to NAEP.
According to NCES, in 2026 and 2028, to comply with congressional testing requirements, U.S. S. . A waiver has been approved by Education Secretary Linda McMahon to add a minimum of eight staff positions before the year ends.
A member of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Marty West serves as the National Assessment Governing Board’s (NAGB) vice chair, helping to establish NAEP policy. “For instance, the preparation for the tests that will be administered in early 2026 really started as much as five years ago and were pretty far down the road by the spring of 2025,” he says, expressing confidence in the department’s ability to meet NAEP deadlines going forward. “.
There won’t be as many deadlines to fulfill either. The NAGB eliminated roughly a dozen scheduled tests this spring, including those for science in fourth grade and U in 12th grade. S. . It was planned to be given to fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade students over the course of the following seven years.
West claims that the reorganization of the assessment schedule was “not too unusual in terms of the history of the program.”. “We believed [it] was a crucial step in order to free up our colleagues at NCES to concentrate on the tests that we believed were most crucial. The reading and math assessments are two of them.
Representatives from states and municipalities make up the independent, nonpartisan NAGB.
“The National Assessment Governing Board is intentionally devoid of federal representatives,” West claims. “Even though the assessment is federal, it is created and conducted to satisfy the requirements of state and local governments as well as the general public. “,”.
