- Nationally, math and English scores were flat or fell.
- LAUSD did better in fourth-grade math, a bright spot.
- Students are reading less for pleasure.
Instead of hoped-for improvements from pandemic-era campus closures, math and English test scores of fourth- and eighth-graders largely held steady or declined nationwide — results that were about the same in Los Angeles and California.
Not only are few students scoring as advanced or proficient, but fewer are achieving a “basic” ranking, the next level down, according to the overall results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, commonly called the nation’s report card.
The percentage of eighth-graders reading below “NAEP Basic” level 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.