NEW: Student Reading and Math Scores Stagnate in New Jersey and U.S.
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February 4, 2025Hot Takes on NAEP —and What New Jersey Needs To Do
Today the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as “The Nation’s Report Card,” released 2024 test scores for 4th and 8th grade reading and math. New Jersey’s results were grim, as were most states. As experts render their verdicts, what can New Jersey learn?
Here are reactions to NJ student proficiency levels, then some national takes.
Paula White, Executive Director of JerseyCAN, says “nothing changes if nothing changes” and “we must reject incrementalism”:
“Stagnation is no cause for celebration in New Jersey. Our 4th grade reading scores are virtually the same compared to 2022, and almost identical to 20 years ago. In mathematics, we also see outcomes that, while higher than most states, have been calcified for years. Nothing will change, if New Jersey does not change. We must double down on implementation of all new policies and laws to address this crisis. It is time to be honest with each other. New Jersey is not #1 in education in the country.
“JerseyCAN renews its cry to reject incrementalism, steer significant resources directly into our classrooms, and teach reading, math, and other subjects using the most robust, evidence-based instruction. If we follow this path, we will accelerate the pace of growth in reading and mathematics in 2026.”
Edunomics Lab pays close attention to how school spending affects student achievement. From 2013 to 2024 in New Jersey, cost per student grew by 44% to approximately $26,300. While 8th grade math scores (like in much of the country) grew modestly, reading scores dropped even as spending increased. Here are the ROI data for New Jersey:
The Urban Institute took yesterday’s scores and adjusted them for socio-economic differences. This is important: In New Jersey 35.8% of K-12 students come from low-income households but in Louisiana, which actually managed to raise reading scores, 71% are low-income. Once NJ’s scores are adjusted to account for wealth disparities, fourth-graders’ proficiency in reading and eighth-graders’ proficiency in math each fall by 8 points.
NJ Spotlight notes that fourth-graders were in kindergarten when schools closed and in 2022 the state and districts used federal money that was supposed to help them recover from significant learning loss. It didn’t:
“New Jersey students performed better on the NAEP reading test than students nationwide in both fourth and eighth grades, but their scores are not significantly different from 2022 or two decades ago in 2003. Fourth-grade average scores remain below scores from 2019, the last time the test was taken before the pandemic. Eighth-grade scores are not significantly different from 2019.”
ChalkbeatNewark notes NAEP results mirror the latest outcomes from NJ’s state standardized tests:
“Though New Jersey’s averages remained above national levels, the results also showed that a significant proportion of students scored below NAEP proficiency levels. For example, 62% of fourth graders scored below proficient in reading — a smaller proportion compared to the 70% of fourth graders who scored below proficiency nationally…New Jersey’s lowest-performing fourth graders scored two points lower than they did in 2022 in the reading exam, going from a score of 198 to 196. This was the lowest score this group has had in the last 20 years. In 2003, the lowest-performing fourth graders scored a 201 on the reading exam.”
Now some national takeaways:
“Dr. [Peggy] Carr [Commissioner of the group that implements NAEP] did point to Louisiana fourth graders as a rare bright spot. Louisiana has focused on adopting the science of reading, a set of strategies to align early literacy teaching with cognitive science research. The resulting instruction typically includes a strong focus on structured phonics and vocabulary building.”
(Ed. Note: What did Louisiana do that New Jersey can learn from? The State Legislature passed bills that requires multiple literacy screening for all students K-3, requires all teachers to demonstrate proficiency in the science of reading, and implemented an effective statewide high-dosage tutoring program that overcame objections to local control.)
“I don’t know how many different ways you can say these results are bad, but they’re bad,” said Dan Goldhaber, an education researcher at the American Institutes for Research and the University of Washington. “I don’t think this is the canary in the coal mine. This is a flock of dead birds in the coal mine.”
“Educators were hoping for more consistent bouncebacks in the recent scores, but there were only scattered signs of progress. Relative bright spots included Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Washington, D.C., where scores generally held steady or in a few cases improved since 2017.”
Marc Porter Magee (who points to that just-released analysis from Urban Institute which adjusts NAEP data for socio-economic differences. NJ’s adjusted results lower fourth-graders’ proficiency even further: Unadjusted for demographics, we rank 6th among 50 states and D.C.; once adjusted, we’re #12.)
“The more disturbing result is the continuing deterioration of scores by low-performing students in the bottom 10 percent and 25 percent. The huge pandemic learning losses for students in the bottom 10 percent grew 70 percent larger between 2022 and 2024. Learning losses for students in the bottom 25 percent grew 25 percent larger.”
Andy Rotherham at Bellwether:
U.S. Education Department:
Margaret Spelling, former U.S. Education Secretary:
“We must restore our commitment to accountability for the academic achievement of all kids. Even before the pandemic, we began to lose the progress made in the early 2000s. School closures during the pandemic only accelerated the decline. The data released today confirms what we’ve known now for several years—we’ve lost our focus on academic achievement in the foundational subjects of reading and math.
Matt Yglesias:
Marcus Brandon of CarolinaCAN:
National Council on Teacher Quality:
The latest NAEP results feel like an alarm that keeps ringing, yet we keep hitting snooze. The sound gets louder, the stakes get higher, and still our children wait for the adults to wake up and act.
Nothing at school can do more to help students succeed than strengthening teacher quality. State and district leaders, teacher prep programs, and education advocates can work together to improve teacher recruitment, preparation, support, diversity, retention, and impact. Here’s how:
- Prepare aspiring teachers with the best instructional methods and give them opportunities to put their skills and knowledge into practice under the supervision of an effective mentor before becoming the teacher of record, Set goals and follow through on plans to strengthen the pipeline for aspiring teachers of color, and improve their retention rates once they reach the classroom.
- Support all aspiring teachers to pass rigorous content licensure tests to signal they have the knowledge and skills aligned to what students need to know.
- Retain effective teachers by providing fair compensation and benefits that allow teachers to live where they work and support themselves and their families to be healthy and safe.
- Require high-quality curriculum and support teachers with ongoing professional development to use it skillfully.
Ensuring students have great teachers will improve their school experiences and life prospects. It’s time to wake up and invest in the highly effective and diverse teacher workforce our students deserve.
The National Parents Union:
“The pandemic didn’t cause this crisis—it only made it worse. There have been times in our nation’s history when states made steady progress on the NAEP, and gaps between disadvantaged children and their peers narrowed. These gains were the result of political courage and policies that disrupted the status quo.”
“We know that improvement is possible right now. States like Louisiana, Maryland, Indiana, Tennessee, Colorado, and Mississippi have shown that when leaders take action, kids can make progress. But too many other states have squandered resources, failed to implement real solutions, and left our children to sink.”
