Minnesota math and reading scores still below pre-COVID levels

The percentages of students scoring below basic reading levels are at all-time highs.

The percentages of students scoring below basic reading levels are at all-time highs. (Shutterstock)

(Center of the American Experiment) — Minnesota student performance on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows that average test scores are not significantly different from two years prior and are still below pre-COVID levels despite record-levels of aid intended to address steep learning loss. The percentages of students scoring below basic reading levels are at all-time highs.

Mandated by Congress, the NAEP reading and math assessments are administered every two years to a sample of fourth- and eighth-graders who represent the student population of the states and nation as a whole. It is the only objective student learning outcome measure available to compare states’ academic performance.

Minnesota’s average fourth- and eighth-grade math scores each ticked up two points from 2022, with average reading scores declining one point among fourth-graders and holding steady among eighth-graders.

The percentage of Minnesota students scoring below the basic achievement level in fourth-grade reading stayed stuck at 39 percent, the same as it was in 2022, and remains the highest percentage ever since the NAEP reading test was first administered in 1992. The percentage of eighth-graders scoring below basic in reading ticked up to 29 percent, which is now the highest percentage ever for this grade level since the reading test was first administered in 1998.

When broken down by student group, Minnesota black students made gains in their average fourth- and eighth-grade math and reading scores compared to 2022. Hispanic students also made gains in their average fourth- and eighth-grade math scores, with their average fourth-grade reading score staying the same as it was in 2022 and increasing among eighth-graders. White fourth-grade math scores also improved from 2022; the average eighth-grade score remained the same. White students’ average scores in both fourth- and eighth-grade reading declined compared to 2022. Large score gaps between student groups remain.

The Minnesota Legislature overhauled the state’s approach to literacy during the 2023 legislative session by passing the READ Act, requiring teacher preparation programs, districts, and teachers to use evidence-based reading instruction to try and help turn around the state’s long-term literacy struggles.

These changes do not present themselves in this round of NAEP reading tests—teachers are still completing professional development and training programs, and schools are sorting out curriculum changes and writing literacy plans, to name a few.

Nationally, the 2024 NAEP reading results are also more troubling than math, as scores once again declined and reached record lows. “NAEP has reported declines in reading achievement consistently since 2019, and the continued declines since the pandemic suggest we’re facing complex challenges that cannot be fully explained by the impact of COVID-19,” said Daniel McGrath of the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers NAEP.

Louisiana is the only state whose fourth-grade reading score is now higher than its pre-COVID levels; Alabama is the only state to demonstrate this in fourth-grade math. (Average eighth-grade scores across states were either lower or not measurably different.)

Similar to 2022 NAEP results, students in Catholic schools nationwide outperformed their public school peers in both subjects and grade levels tested.

Minnesota average NAEP scores

This article was originally published by the Center of the American Experiment

 

Catrin Wigfall

Catrin Wigfall is a Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment.

Catrin’s experience in education and policy research began during her time with the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. Her interest in education policy led her to spend two years teaching 5th grade general education and 6th grade Latin in Arizona as a Teach for America corps member. She then used her classroom experience to transition back into education policy work at the California Policy Center before joining American Experiment in February 2017.

Catrin graduated summa cum laude from Azusa Pacific University in California, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.