The results for Maryland’s 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for grades four and eight reflected a national declining trend that began in 2013 and worsened during the pandemic.
The NAEP is a biennial national assessment of fourth and eighth graders in reading and math, and 2022 results indicated that a majority of Maryland fourth and eighth grade students were not proficient in mathematics or reading.
“When you look at trends, not necessarily where they rank in 2022, but just looking at how performance has changed from 2013 to 2022, Maryland seems to be heading in the wrong direction,” said Grady Wilburn, a statistician at the National Center for Education Statistics.
2022 reading scores down both nationally and in Maryland:
In 2022, the average reading score of fourth-grade students in the nation was 216, while Maryland had an average score of 212. The average score for Maryland dropped eight points between 2019 and 2022, while national scores dropped three points.
In Maryland, fourth-grade Hispanic students’ average reading scores showed the largest decline from 2019 to 2022, dropping 7%. Those who identify as two or more races showed the next largest at 4%, and Black students’ average reading scores saw an almost 2% decline.
Nationally, the average fourth-grade reading scores showed a 2.5% decline in scores for Black students and an almost 2% decline in scores for Hispanic students from 2019 to 2022.
“Because of COVID-19, we saw declines across most states in all grades and subjects, so I think it’s fair to attribute part of the decline from 2019 to 2022 to school closures and disruptions in schools,” said Wilburn.
The average reading scores for fourth-grade students in Maryland that are eligible for the National School Lunch Program declined almost 5%, while students not eligible showed an almost 3% decline in scores from 2019 to 2022.
In 2022, the average reading score of eighth-grade students in Maryland was 259, the same average score for students nationally. Maryland’s eighth-grade average scores dropped almost 2% between 2019 and 2022.
In Maryland, eighth-grade students who identify as two or more races showed the largest drop in average scores for reading with an almost 6% decline. Black students’ scores dropped by almost 3%, Asian/Pacific Islander students’ scores dropped almost 2%, and white and Hispanic students’ scores dropped less than 1% from 2019 to 2022.
Nationally, average eighth-grade scores for white students dropped by 1.5%, Black and Asian/Pacific Islander students’ scores did not change, and scores for Hispanic students and those who identify as two or more races dropped by less than 1%.
“Regardless of socioeconomic status, everyone seems to be declining,” Wilburn said.
Mathematics scores also declining:
The average mathematics score for fourth-grade students in Maryland in 2019 was 239 and dropped to 229 in 2022, almost 3% lower than average national scores
From 2019 to 2022 in Maryland, Hispanic students showed the largest drop in average fourth-grade mathematics scores with an almost 8% decline, Black students’ scores declined almost 5%, Asian/Pacific Islander students’ scores declined just over 3%, and white students’ scores declined by just over 1%.
The only group to see an increase in scores was students who identify as two or more races, with scores increasing by 1.6%.
Nationally, scores for all racial and ethnic groups declined, with Black students showing the largest decline at just over 3%.
The average mathematics scores for fourth-grade students in Maryland that are eligible for the National School Lunch Program declined by just over 6%, and ineligible students’ scores declined by just over 3% from 2019 to 2022.
The average mathematics score of eighth-grade students in Maryland dropped from 280 in 2019 to 269 in 2022, and the average mathematics score for students in the nation was 273.
In Maryland, both Black and Hispanic eighth-grade students’ scores dropped the most, declining just over 4%.
Nationally, average mathematics scores for eighth-grade students who identify as two or more races declined the most, dropping by 3.5% from 2019 to 2022, and Black and Hispanic students’ scores dropped by just over 2.5%.
While scores have been declining since 2013, the pandemic was a “wakeup call that the education system is struggling,” according to Wilburn.
In order to understand where these gaps in learning are coming from, Wilburn says that “allowing an opportunity for someone who is good at tutoring, who knows what they’re doing, to help understand where the holes are, and then fill in those holes with some high dosage tutoring,” is a key strategy in helping struggling students.
In a 2022 Maryland State Department of Education press release, State Superintendent of Schools Mohammed Choudhury said “there is no sugar coating these results. Maryland has been experiencing a downward trend since 2013, and a return to normal is not good enough.”
The next NAEP tests will be administered in the winter of 2024 in Maryland, with results estimated to come out in the summer of 2025.