New NAEP Test Scores Are a Disaster

Commentary
In a predictable, yet nonetheless shocking outcome, the latest scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) record the biggest decline in math in three decades.
In mathematics, eighth grade students’ NAEP scores dropped eight points from 2019 to 2022, according to results released Monday. Just 26 percent of eighth graders now perform math proficiently, down from 33 percent in 2019.
Fourth graders saw a five-point decline in math, with the percentage scoring as proficient dropping from 41 percent to 36 percent.
In both fourth- and eighth-grade reading, student’s NAEP scores dipped three points from 2019 to 2022. Thirty-three percent of fourth graders reached reading proficiency in 2022, down from 35 percent in 2019. Among eighth graders, reading proficiency declined from 34 percent to 31 percent. That’s right—fewer than one-third of eighth graders now can read proficiently….