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2d ago

Nation’s Report Card Shows Record 12th-Grade Reading and Math Lows as 8th-Grade Science Declines

Officials say the steepest declines hit the lowest-performing students.

GOETTINGEN, GERMANY - MAY 12: High school graduates of the 13th grade of the Abendygymnasium (Evening Gymnasium) write their A-levels (Abitur) in mathematics, after they could only prepare themselves for two weeks at school due to the Corona crisis on May 12, 2020 in Goettingen, Germany. Across Germany tenth graders began returning to school two weeks and twelfth graders are returning this week in cautious steps to reopen schools that have been closed since March as authorities lift lockdown measures that had been imposed to stem the spread of the virus. The A-Level examinations in Lower Saxony, which were postponed for 3 weeks due to the corona pandemic, began late and under difficult conditions. (Photo by Christian Ender/Getty Images)
National scores released Tuesday showed 31% of eighth graders were proficient in science in 2024, down four percentage points from 2019. Among 12th graders, 33% were proficient in math and 37% proficient in reading, a drop of two percentage points in each category.
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Overview

  • NAEP’s 2024 assessments, administered January through March, are the first post-pandemic results for 12th-grade reading and math and for 8th-grade science.
  • In 12th grade, 45% scored below NAEP’s Basic level in math and 32% fell below Basic in reading, with proficiency at about 22% in math and 35% in reading.
  • The gap between top and bottom performers widened, reaching a record spread in 8th-grade science, and girls’ science scores fell more than boys’ compared with 2019.
  • Chronic absenteeism rose, with 31% of high school seniors reporting they missed three or more days in the month before testing, up from 26% in 2019.
  • Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the results devastating and pressed to shift control of education spending to states, while experts cautioned that NAEP’s high proficiency bar and sampled design limit how results should guide policy.