The Nation’s Report Card shows that the nation’s fourth- and eighth-graders are not making the level of progress needed to regain ground lost during the pandemic, although there are some signs of progress, according to a news release.

Grade 4 mathematics scores improved between 2022 and 2024, a two-point gain that follows a 5-point decline from 2019 to 2022, according to results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which was released Jan. 29 by the National Center for Education Statistics. Eighth-grade scores in mathematics showed no significant change.

The most notable challenges evident in the 2024 data are in reading comprehension. Reading scores dropped in both fourth and eighth grades since 2022, continuing declines first reported in 2019, before the pandemic.

“Overall, student achievement has not returned to pre-pandemic performance,” NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr said. “Where there are signs of recovery, they are mostly in math and largely driven by higher-performing students. Lower-performing students are struggling, especially in reading.”

In 2024, the percentage of eighth-graders’ reading below NAEP Basic was the largest in the assessment’s history, and the percentage of fourth-graders who scored below NAEP Basic was the largest in 20 years.

In eighth grade, the data also show widening gaps since 2022 between higher- and lower-performing students as higher performers regained ground lost and their lower-performing peers continued to decline or show no notable progress.

In eighth-grade mathematics, this widening gap is most pronounced. Lower-performing students declined, while higher-performing students improved. As a result of this divergence in performance, the average score in 2024 was not significantly different than in 2022.

In fourth-grade mathematics, the gap also grew as the scores of the lowest performing students did not change significantly from 2022, while the highest performing students’ scores increased.

In reading, lower-performing students struggled the most. At both fourth and eighth grades, the scores of students at the 10th and 25th percentiles in 2024 were lower than the first NAEP reading assessment in 1992.

State Results

From 2022 to 2024, states’ average reading scores for both grades either declined or had no significant change. For fourth grade, most states and jurisdictions (47) saw no significant change in average reading scores, and five had declines. Scores decreased for lower-performing students in four of the five states with declines on average. At eighth grade, 44 states and jurisdictions saw no significant change in average reading scores since 2022, and eight saw declines.

In mathematics, grade 4 scores increased for 15 states/jurisdictions. Another 37 states and jurisdictions saw no significant change in fourth-grade average scores since 2022. At eighth grade, 49 states and jurisdictions saw no significant change in the average mathematics score since 2022. In four states, the average mathematics scores for eighth grade decreased.

View the comprehensive data from the report.