For Immediate Release
October 24, 2022
Contact: Ted Fisher, aoe.publicinformation@vermont.gov
MONTPELIER, Vt. – The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) today released the nationwide performance results from the 2022 assessments in reading and mathematics. The NAEP is administered every two years to students in grades Four and Eight across the nation. This administration comes after the postponement of the 2021 NAEP due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While still navigating pandemic conditions, 202 schools in Vermont participated in the assessment.
Grade 8 students in Vermont scored above the national average in reading and math, and Grade 4 reading and math performance was not significantly different from the national average. However, while Vermont students continued to perform at or above the national average, students showed a decline in average scale scores compared to Vermont’s 2019 results. While it is fair to conclude that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are reflected in student performance, that explanation does not tell the whole story. Vermont students’ performance on NAEP has been generally declining for over a decade.
“This year’s scores reinforce a longstanding trend,” said Secretary of Education Dan French. “They are an important reminder that, before the pandemic, we weren’t where we wanted to be. Our task with Education Recovery is not to return our education system to where it was in 2019, rather to build the 21st Century education system, grounded in quality and equity, that Vermont and Vermonters need to succeed, compete and thrive in the future.”
Nationally, average reading and math scores declined compared to 2019. Reading scores for both Grade 4 and 8 students decreased nationwide by three points, and math scores decreased by 4 points in Grade 4 and 8 points in grade 8. Compared to 2019, average reading scores for Grade 8 declined in 33 states and were not statistically different in 18 states. Average scores for students with disabilities were relatively stable across the nation, compared to other categories.
In Vermont:
- Grade 4 and 8 reading and math average scores declined since 2019.
- Grade 8 reading and math scores were higher than the national average.
- Grade 4 reading and math average scores (217 and 234) were not significantly different than the national average (216 and 235).
- In terms of proficiency, a greater percentage of Grade 8 students (34%) scored at or above NAEP proficient than at the national level, but the percentage of students who performed at or above NAEP proficient decreased since 2019 (3% for reading, 8% for math).
NAEP is the largest nationally representative assessment of what America’s students know and can do in various subject areas. NAEP provides state and national level results, but does not report results for individual students, classrooms, schools or school districts. Not all students participate in NAEP nationwide, though the proportion of Vermont students who participate is higher relative to many other states.
Because NAEP results are state-level averages, the U.S. Department of Education cautions against using them to make causal inferences.
“It’s important to recognize what NAEP can and cannot tell us,” said Deputy Secretary Heather Bouchey. “These results are a useful general barometer, but can’t tell us specifics as we work to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, they remind us that we aren’t where we want to be, and there is work to be done to make sure all Vermont students achieve their educational goals.”
Vermont’s NAEP results are publicly available on the NAEP website.
About the National Assessment of Educational Progress
NAEP is the largest nationally representative assessment of what America’s students know and can do in various subject areas. Assessments are conducted periodically in various subjects, including reading, language arts, mathematics, science and the arts. NAEP provides state and national level results, but does not report results for individual students, classrooms, schools or school districts. Because NAEP results are state level averages, The US Department of Education cautions against using them to make causal inferences.
NAEP results can be found at nationsreportcard.gov
About the Vermont Agency of Education
The Agency of Education implements state and federal laws, policies, and regulations to ensure all Vermont learners have equitable access to high-quality learning opportunities. The Agency accomplishes this mission through the provision of its leadership, support, and oversight of Vermont’s public education system. Connect with the Vermont Agency of Education on Twitter, Facebook and the Web.
AOE is a joke. We need to drop the bureaucratic government school model and get back to community education.
This should be made illegal…. Teachers unions flooding Democrat candidtes with millions of cash….not a Repub in sight. It is a pure “payola”….”bribe”…”pay to play”…scheme. It isn’t about the kids anymore, or kids education….it is all about them and what “they” can get out of the system personally and at same time indoctrinate children of their approved & preferred PC agenda.. The NEA should be abolished.:
“Teachers unions spend big on Democrats ahead of midterm elections
Major teachers unions pour millions into Democratic candidates and committees.”
The WSJ has a good editorial of five years declining ACT scores from high schoolers….five years means you can’t blame covid.. Look squarely at teachers, Unions and their fixation on all Progressive & PC indoctrinations….over what is a real education is about:
“This dumbing down of American youth should set off alarms, as students are learning less and less even as the world grows more competitive. U.S. K-12 education is failing, and it’s getting worse despite the hundreds of billions of additional dollars that politicians have shoveled into public schools.”
From a students perspective why should I try my best on this test? What’s In It for me? Am I given a grade for my effort?
It’s possible that the students are not putting in the effort to show how academically advanced they are.
In fact, students aren’t required to take the NAEP assessments. In fact, fewer than 5% of 4th and 8th graders actually take the tests. And, in fact, teachers pick the students who take the NAEP exams. Which leads a reasonable person to believe that those students tested are the cream of the crop.
If you want to know how Vermont students are really doing as a whole, visit the AOE web site. You will find that about half of those students who graduate don’t meet minimum grade level standards. And taxpayers are paying as much to educate first graders as it costs to send an in-state student to Vermont’s State University for a full year…. including room and board.
And this Vermont student performance has been going on since before the school lockdowns. In other words, Vermont’s public education program is a scam.
Vermont spends $19,400 yearly for students K-12. VT ranks 3rd or 4th highest per pupil spending in USA. When you coinsider the money spent, VT has poor results. VT, for $19,400 per kid should be getting closer to “private school” test scores. Worse? The average elementary school class size in VT is about 16 kids.. Even more reason why teacher performance is poor….16 kids average should get be getting higher private school test scores.
But, rest assured & CELEBRATE that VT school scoring for Gender, Sexuality, Transgender, Race, Climate change, LGBTQ, Enviro activism, indoctrinated Progressive Politics, and the hate taught of conservatives……..VERMONT is N0# 1 in USA……..THOSE areas are what matters to the overpaid and underperforming teachers union. Just a fact.