Overview

• Statewide, about 42% of students met or exceeded expectations in 2025 compared with roughly 50% in 2019, and about 18% failed versus about 11% pre-pandemic.
• Grade 10 results fell year over year, with English language arts at 51% meeting expectations (down 6 points from 2024, down 10 from 2019) and math at 45% (down 3 from 2024, down 14 from 2019), with officials noting more blank and off‑topic responses.
• Only 13 districts matched or exceeded pre‑pandemic performance in both English and math for grades 3–8, underscoring uneven recovery across the state.
• Large disparities persisted, with roughly one‑quarter to one‑third of Black students meeting expectations on each test compared with about half of white students.
• DESE reported chronic absenteeism at 18.8% last year and released accountability determinations naming 61 Schools of Recognition and identifying 29 districts and 280 schools for assistance or intervention, while about 39% of eighth graders passed the new civics exam.