While the country grapples with another round of disappointing performance on the test known as the nation鈥檚 report card, and growing gaps between the highest- and lowest-achieving students, big-city districts showed more of a mixed bag.
Some large districts managed to buck the national trend on the 2024 test, seeing gains among both high- and low-performing students in 4th grade math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. One district, Atlanta, recorded an increase in 4th grade reading scores, the only big city to do so.
NAEP results don鈥檛 detail why or how students鈥� scores fluctuate. They are more of a 鈥渟tarting point for questions rather than the answer,鈥� said Martin West, the academic dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees NAEP.
What the results do show is that, even in states and districts with more promising results, there鈥檚 much work to do to stymie long-standing declines that the pandemic accelerated.
While a sample of students in each state take the NAEP every other year, a number of the nation鈥檚 largest districts voluntarily participate in the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) and have their results reported separately. Last year, 26 large districts participated.
In reading, the bulk of the big districts recorded no significant change last year from their 2022 scores among either 4th or 8th graders. Meanwhile, 14 recorded an increase in 4th grade math performance, and no district recorded a lower score. In 8th grade math, the bulk of participating districts鈥�17 of the 25 that participated in both 2022 and 2024鈥攕howed no significant change from 2022 while eight recorded lower scores.
Some large-city district leaders attributed their success to students鈥� early and continued access to interventions like high-dosage tutoring in recent years. Despite the progress, they noted that their scores have oftentimes lagged, and still do lag, national averages.
The key will be to find ways to fund interventions after the end of the infusion of federal aid that initially boosted those programs, leaders said.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e seeing is momentum in pandemic recovery, and this showing of momentum means we have to keep doing what鈥檚 working for large districts,鈥� said Whitney Oakley, superintendent of Guilford County schools in North Carolina, where 4th grade math scores increased more than eight points, crushing the national increase of two points. Guilford County鈥檚 average 4th grade math score was equal to the national average in 2024.
While gaps grow, some districts have found success with both high and low achievers
On average, America鈥檚 students performed worse in 2024 than 2022 on the NAEP reading exam in both 4th and 8th grades, and math scores showed some improvement in 4th grade but remained below pre-pandemic levels. Eighth grade math scores have generally plateaued.
And while some students鈥攖hose who scored in the top 75th percentile鈥攇ained ground between 2022 and 2024 in math, those who scored in the bottom 25th percentile fell further behind in 8th grade and made no progress in 4th. In reading, lower-scoring students saw bigger declines than their higher-scoring peers at both grade levels. The pattern of diverging performance echoes trends on a number of other exams, including global tests like the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA.
But some of the country鈥檚 large-city school districts鈥攊ncluding Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, Baltimore, and the District of Columbia鈥攕aw gains for students at the 25th percentile, too, in 4th grade math.
Miami-Dade Superintendent Jose Dotres said his 鈥渧ery data-driven鈥� district has routinely reviewed data for the highest and lowest achievers and made adjustments鈥攁dding tutoring and before- and after-school programs鈥攖o ensure gaps between them didn鈥檛 widen. It鈥檚 seemingly been a success, with both cohorts making gains in 4th grade math. In 8th grade math and on both reading assessments, Miami-Dade students鈥� scores either held steady between 2022 and 2024, or both groups declined at similar rates.
What we鈥檙e seeing is momentum in pandemic recovery, and this showing of momentum means we have to keep doing what鈥檚 working for large districts.
The county-wide district of 336,000 students has established a partnership with a local university to help sustain tutoring efforts, as well as applied for grants and redirected funds to other interventions that add to students鈥� learning time, like before- and after-school programs and Saturday tutoring sessions. District leaders are also working to ensure that each intervention features customized, high-quality instruction so students can attend more than one without it becoming too repetitive or boring, Dotres said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not only what you鈥檙e doing, it is how well-organized, orchestrated, and coherent it is, so that you create the positive impact on a student鈥檚 achievement,鈥� Dotres said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we鈥檙e focused on.鈥�
Miami-Dade鈥檚 results were generally higher than Florida鈥檚 state results.
Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz on Wednesday penned a letter to NAEP officials questioning the validity of the state鈥檚 results, which .
that the sample of Florida students who took the test weren鈥檛 representative of the state as a whole because more than three-quarters came from four large districts. Plus, he said, NAEP doesn鈥檛 capture the performance of the growing number of students who have opted into Florida鈥檚 growing private school choice programs that provide state money so children can attend private school.
During a webinar hosted by the Council of Chief State School Officers on Wednesday, West said officials go 鈥渢o great lengths鈥� to ensure the sample is representative of the state, and states 鈥渟ign off in advance on the representativeness of their samples.鈥� He confirmed Florida officials signed off on their sample.
West also explained that state-level results are for public school students only, and private school data is not included because 鈥減articipation rates aren鈥檛 quite high enough.鈥�
Sustaining progress will be a challenge
Of the 14 TUDA districts with higher average scores on the 2024 4th grade math assessment, seven had score increases at both the 25th and 75th percentiles; four had score increases at the 75th percentile but no significant change at the 25th percentile; and three had no significant score change at either the 25th or 75th percentiles.
Thirty-three percent of 4th grade public school students in large cities performed at or above NAEP proficient in math in 2024, which was 6 percentage points higher than in 2022, and 69 percent performed at or above NAEP basic, which was 4 percentage points higher than in 2022. Thirty-nine percent of 4th graders across the country scored at or above NAEP proficient and 77 percent scored at or above NAEP basic.
The NAEP basic level is roughly parallel with scoring proficient on many state standardized tests, research has shown.
Baltimore was one of the 14 districts that saw an increase in its 4th grade average math score from 2022 to 2024.
Twelve percent of Baltimore鈥檚 4th graders scored at or above the 鈥減roficient鈥� level, compared with just 7 percent in 2022. Still, that was significantly behind the Maryland total (37 percent) and the total for big-city schools (33 percent).
鈥淥ur 4th grade math performance is encouraging. We know our approaches are working, our families are supporting the work, and our staff continue to push boundaries for our young people to reach their potential,鈥� Sonja Santelises, chief executive officer of the 76,000-student district, said in a statement that credited professional development, more school-based math coaches, and family engagement activities to support math learning outside the classroom for the progress. 鈥淥ur focus is to continue the momentum of our acceleration efforts to reach more students.鈥�
In the 68,000-student Guilford County district, Oakley said philanthropic support will allow her district to continue offering tutoring, including virtual sessions, that have benefited students, as well as after-school 鈥渓earning hubs鈥� where more than 5,000 students can get additional one-on-one help with schoolwork.
Reading scores are a sore spot for districts
Atlanta was the only large-city district to record an increase in 4th grade reading scores, while the other large districts鈥� scores decreased or were not measurably different from 2022 to 2024.
Atlanta鈥檚 average 4th grade reading score increased by nearly seven points from 2022 while the nation鈥檚 average score fell two points. The score was three points lower than the national average.
The improvement is a bright spot among otherwise disappointing national reading scores that have been on the downswing for years.
During the webinar Wednesday, West, the Harvard dean, cautioned that students鈥� struggles with reading have been evident in NAEP scores since 2015, long before the pandemic, so solutions may be best found by taking a look at what worked well for schools and students prior to the decline.
鈥淲hile it鈥檚 often popular in the field of education policy and practice to look for the next shiny new thing, to go to the places that are being successful right in the moment and see what they鈥檙e doing,鈥� he said, 鈥渨e may be in a situation right now where we have an opportunity to learn from our past and what鈥檚 contributed to progress in prior generations.鈥�
