Math, reading scores drop on ‘nation’s report card’

WASHINGTON – National scores for reading in fourth and eighth grades dropped from 2017 to 2019, according to results released Wednesday.

Declines in the federally administered tests were recorded among students with the highest scores and among those with the lowest scores. In math, there was a small improvement among fourth-graders but a small drop in grade eight, driven by declines among lower-performing students.

National Assessment of Educational Progress tests, known as NAEP and often referred to as the “nation’s report card,” is a closely watched exam because it assesses the performance of children from all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds in urban, suburban and rural communities. The government first administered a version of the exam in 1990, and it tests fourth- and eighth-graders in math and reading every other year.

The results, reported on a 500-point scale, were based on testing of about 300,000 fourth-graders and 290,600 eighth-graders. The changes since 2017 were sometimes a shift of a single point, a small but statistically significant change.

Jurisdictions saw the biggest decline in 2019 on eighth-grade reading scores, with a three-point drop out of the 500 possible points. While some changes were small, this one was a “very meaningful decline,” said Peggy Carr, associate commissioner for the federal government’s National Center for Education Statistics.

“It is critical that researchers further explore the declines we are seeing here,” she said.

Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative think tank, attributes the national stagnation to the lingering effects of the recession a decade ago. He said the struggles of low-income families were especially pronounced through these years, affecting their children’s long-term educational success. In addition, states cut funding for schools, hurting progress.

“I think we are still seeing the effect of that, even as states are starting to open their wallets again,” he said. “The good news is that today’s booming economy, and increases in school spending, should help to improve results going forward. But maybe not until 2022 or 2023.”

The District of Columbia and Mississippi were the only jurisdictions to improve on three of the four metrics evaluated. D.C. was the only jurisdiction that experienced a significant increase in eighth-grade reading.

D.C.’s performance has historically lagged behind the rest of the country. The results bring D.C. to the average state performance and, on some metrics, above average for urban districts.

“There is clearly something good happening in D.C. when it comes to eighth-grade scores,” said Matthew Chingos, vice president of education data and policy at the Urban Institute.

The increase was driven largely by the performance of Hispanic students, who posted an eight-point increase in test scores since 2017. Black eighth-grade students had a one-point increase on the reading exam, and white students registered a one-point decline.

Even so, a significant achievement gap persists between white students in D.C. and their Hispanic and black peers, although the gaps narrowed on this year’s test.

Overall, black, Hispanic and white students made gains on the test, and Kang said the city’s overall growth on the test cannot be attributed to demographic shifts in the city.

The boost in D.C.’s scores was largely driven by improvements among students attending traditional public schools. Results from the charter sector - which are publicly funded and privately operated campuses that educate nearly half of D.C.’s public school children - remained largely stagnant since 2017.

Kang attributed D.C.’s gains to investments in high-quality teachers and early-childhood education. The city has offered universal pre-kindergarten since 2008, and she said the city is increasing access to quality child care for infants.

The traditional public school system is one of 27 urban school districts to participate in the Trial Urban District Assessment, which allows comparisons across districts.