Policy Backgrounders

National Assessment of Educational Progress 2024 Results

February 06, 2025

The National Center for Education Statistics released the results of the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading and math assessments, delivering a highly anticipated snapshot of national elementary student performance. As leaders continue to monitor the long-term impact of the COVID pandemic-induced school disruptions as well as learning recovery efforts, the latest results reinforce concerns raised from the 2022 NAEP scores, though some states experienced small victories.

• Reading scores for 4^th and 8^th graders remain 5 points below pre-pandemic levels. Math scores were 3 points below pre-pandemic levels for 4^th graders and 8 points lower for 8^th graders.
• The percentage of 4^th graders who scored below basic (40 percent) was the largest in 20 years and the percentage of 8^th graders who scored below basic (33 percent) was the largest in history.
• Average math scores increased in 15 states/jurisdictions for 4^th grade students and four states saw improvements for 8^th grade students, in comparison to 2022 outcomes.
• Two states were outliers in exceeding pre-pandemic performance. At the 4^th grade level, Alabama’s students exceeded pre-pandemic scores in math, and Louisiana’s students exceeded pre-pandemic levels in reading.
• Fourteen urban school districts improved scores in 4^th grade math. Atlanta Public Schools was the only district to experience an increase in average reading scores.