New York City children who just started grade school during the pandemic are rebounding in math — but schools are still struggling to teach students how to read, according to highly anticipated data released Wednesday as part of the “Nation’s Report Card.”
The National Assessment of Educational Progress, or “NAEP,” showed an 8-point increase in the average test score of a local fourth grader in 2024, according to district snapshot reports. With the latest improvements, students are performing at about the same level as fourth graders before the COVID years.
In 2022, the last year the test was given, fourth-grade math scores plummeted by 9 points — a record drop since the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the gold-standard exam, started collecting data.
“The latest NAEP results underscore the resilience of New York City’s students and educators,” Chyann Tull, a spokeswoman for the city’s public schools, said in a statement.
“Our test scores have returned to pre-pandemic levels, and this stability reflects the extraordinary efforts of our schools to support learning recovery and maintain high standards for all students.”
But signs of headway end there.
The latest NAEP results show how a representative sample of fourth and eighth graders performed in math and reading.
Apart from fourth-grade math, New York City schools failed to improve on any of the other tests — though averaged roughly the same scores as before the pandemic and in other large cities.
In 2024, fourth-grade readers considered “economically disadvantaged” had an average score than was 37 points lower than their peers — a significant widening over two decades, when that gap was 18 points.
“We hoped to see post-pandemic improvement — but the reality is that it hasn’t happened,” said Marielys Divanne, executive director of the New York chapter of Educators for Excellence. “We cannot afford to be passive in the face of these disparities.”
On top of the disruptions to classroom time, the pandemic contributed to mental health challenges for young people. Chronic absenteeism has remained stubbornly high, with more than one-third of local students missing 10% or more of last school year.
Average reading scores dipped by 2 points among the city’s fourth graders and 1 point in eighth grade. Neither decline is considered significantly different by NCES but continue a worrisome trend: Fewer than 3 in 10 local-test takers scored proficient — or better — in reading. (The NAEP standard for proficiency exceeds that of most state tests.)
“This is not just a pandemic story,” NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr told reporters during a briefing. “Our nation is facing complex challenges in reading.”
The city’s top education officials are trying to overhaul how the system teaches literacy, requiring community school districts to choose between one of three research-backed curricular options. While teachers are still being trained in the new methods, experts have advised the local school system to stay the course as the city’s school chancellor, Melissa Aviles-Ramos, has made some tweaks to the requirement.
A similar push to standardize curriculum is also underway in math.
“While there is still so much to be done, we remain committed to building on this foundation and fostering continued growth citywide,” said Tull, the city schools spokeswoman.
Other states that have adopted the so-called “science of reading” before New York saw improvements in their NAEP scores. Carr cited Louisiana as doing “what most states were unable to do” by surpassing its pre-pandemic reading scores for fourth graders.
“They did focus heavily on the science of reading,” Carr told reporters, “but they didn’t start yesterday. They’ve been working on it several years. So I would not say that hope is lost. And I would not say that we cannot turn this around — it’s been demonstrated that we can.”
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