Governor Jeb Bush & Patricia Levesque Respond to Sharp Decline in 2022 NAEP Scores

The Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd), issued the following statements from its founder and chairman, Governor Jeb Bush, and Patricia Levesque, ExcelinEd’s CEO, concerning the significant decline in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Long-Term Trends in reading and mathematics:

Gov. Jeb Bush:

“Today’s NAEP results are deeply discouraging. In just two years, two decades worth of gains in literacy and mathematics have been wiped away. And, sadly, losses are greatest for our lowest performing students who now face monumental challenges to recover lost learning.

“Policymakers cannot hide behind excuses – this is just the latest demonstration that urgent action is needed to better serve students. Educating our children is a national priority, and it demands we act swiftly with bold, evidence-based policy solutions to reverse the ever-widening achievement gap.

“I am encouraged by the number of states taking action to adopt comprehensive early literacy policies guided by the Science of Reading, a proven approach. Yet passing laws isn’t enough. State and school leaders must have the fortitude to follow through by faithfully implementing comprehensive programs and giving educators the right tools to teach strong reading skills. It’s what is needed in every state—and for every child to ensure they are set up for a lifetime of success.”

Patricia Levesque:

“The data are here. School closures, forced remote learning and pandemic-related disruptions have had serious consequences on our nation’s students. Today’s NAEP results are heartbreaking. Policymakers must act quickly to enact comprehensive, student-centered policies to transform education.

“We encourage policymakers to continue to hold schools accountable, expand options for families, embrace innovative solutions and immediately leverage evidence-based Science of Reading policies to close learning gaps and create better long-term outcomes for students.

“Despite these devastating results, we still believe every student is fully capable of reaching their full potential when given the quality education they deserve.”

NAEP Results Summary:

These results are a result of tracking long-term academic trends for nine-year-olds, from the 1970s to the present, and this data includes the first federal assessment of how learning was affected by the pandemic.

• Average scores for age 9 students in 2022 declined 5 points in reading and 7 points in mathematics compared to 2020.
• This is the largest average score decline in reading since 1990, and the first ever score decline in mathematics. 

NAEP reports scores at five selected percentiles to show the progress made by lower- (10th and 25th percentiles), middle- (50th percentile), and higher- (75th and 90th percentiles) performing students.

• In 2022, reading and mathematics scores for students at all five selected percentile levels declined compared to 2020.
• In both subjects, scores for lower-performing age 9 students declined more than scores for higher-performing students compared to 2020. 

In 2022, average scores declined in reading and mathematics across many of the selected student groups compared to 2020.

• Across long-term trend reading and mathematics, there were no increases in scores for any of the selected student groups compared to 2020. 
• In mathematics, the 13-point score decrease among Black students compared to the 5-point decrease among White students resulted in a widening of the White−Black score gap from 25 points in 2020 to 33 points in 2022. 

Student group performance at the lower (25th percentile) and higher (75th percentile) performance levels provide additional insight into the score declines for selected student groups.

• In 2022, there were no increases compared to 2020 in the scores for any of the selected student groups performing at either the 25th percentile or at the 75th percentile in both long-term trend reading and mathematics.
• Scores were lower for nearly all selected student groups at the 25th percentile in mathematics.
• In reading, scores declined for most selected student groups at the 25th percentile compared to 2020, with some exceptions.
• There were also fewer declines at the higher performance level (at the 75th percentile) in reading than in mathematics across selected student groups. For example, when looking at the racial/ethnic groups, while scores declined for White, Black, and Hispanic students at the 75th percentile in mathematics compared to 2020, there were no significant score changes across the reported racial/ethnic student groups at this performance level in reading.