Scores on a biennial federal test for Georgia fourth and eighth graders show that students on the whole are not progressing enough to regain academic losses sustained during the pandemic.
The National Center for Education Statistics administers the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known informally as the nation’s report card. It is given to a sampling of students at two grade levels nationwide. It is the only government measure that allows comparisons between the states.
Georgia’s average scores moved a bit, but the changes were considered statistically insignificant: reading dropped two points in fourth grade and one point in eighth grade while math rose a point in fourth grade and dropped two points in eighth grade. Georgia’s fourth grade students matched the national average in reading and their score was not statistically different from the nation’s in math. The state’s eighth grade students beat the national average in math by two points but scored three points lower in math.
