According to a new analysis, New Jersey fourth-graders rank ninth in the country in math while ninth-graders rank fourth when compared to 50 states and the District of Columbia.

MyExcelOnline crunched state-by-state math proficiency numbers measured by NAEP (the “Nation’s Report Card”) and and the College Board’s SATs. The analysis finds that Wyoming, Utah,  Minnesota, Massachusetts, and North Dakota students ranked the highest in math proficiency tests. The lowest-ranking states were New Mexico, West Virginia, and Delaware.

In 2022, New Jersey fourth-graders’ NAEP math scores were down seven points compared to the previous testing period in 2019. Eighth-graders’ math scores were down 11 points. As the Philadelphia Inquirer pointed out, “New Jersey students saw declines in math [and reading] at slightly steeper rates than the national average,” so large that inn 8th grade math only three states had a larger decreases. Last March the Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research and Stanford’s Educational Opportunity Project listed New Jersey as one of eight states with the largest slides in math skills, calculating that students lost “more than 70 percent of a grade level” in math.

New NAEP scores will be released late in January.