/ Official Statement / EdTrust-Tennessee Responds to 2024 NAEP Scores

EdTrust-Tennessee Responds to 2024 NAEP Scores

January 29, 2025 by EdTrust-Tennessee

EdTrust-Tennessee Statement text set on top of the Tennessee state capitol

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 29, 2025

Contact: Breana Staten, bstaten@edtrust.org

EdTrust-Tennessee issued the following statement regarding the National Center for Education Statistics’ release of the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results. The NAEP results include national, state, and select district-level scores for grades 4 and 8 in mathematics and reading and insights into students’ learning experiences.

Tennessee’s gains on the 2024 NAEP assessment are cause for celebration, and a testament to the historic investments we have made as a state in public education. As we celebrate progress for students, we remain committed to advancing policies that aim to close the persistent gaps by race, income, and other dimensions of difference evident in NAEP scores over the last 25 years.

In Tennessee: 

  • Compared to performance in 2022, the last time NAEP was administered, Tennessee students saw increases in NAEP scores in fourth and eighth grade reading and math, resulting in scores that outpaced national averages. Tennessee ranked number one in terms of eighth grade math score increase and number 11 in terms of fourth grade reading increase (Edunomics). 
  • Tennessee students also saw increases in the percent that scored at or above proficient in reading and math since 2022, outpacing national proficiency rates and growth. While reading proficiency rates have yet to recover to pre-pandemic rates, Tennessee fourth graders have surpassed their pre-pandemic math proficiency rate from 2019. 
  • Black students’ scores were at least 20 points lower than those of white students in Tennessee on average for math and reading NAEP tests in fourth and eighth grades. These gaps were not significantly different from the ones that existed in 1998 (reading) and 2000 (math). Gaps between Hispanic and white students’ scores were also large, especially in math.
  • English learners’ scores increased more than the statewide average on most tests since 2022, especially in 8th-grade reading. Students with disabilities saw their scores decrease on most tests, especially in 4th-grade reading.
  • Large gaps in the scores of economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students persisted.

Tennessee’s impressive NAEP gains are promising evidence that we should continue to prioritize investing in our public schools and in proven strategies that improve outcomes for kids. Tennessee’s student-based funding formula, the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) and the additional $1 billion in annual funding that supports the new formula, have contributed to these gains. Although we have made significant progress on funding, Tennessee still lags behind the national average of $16,645 in per-pupil expenditures (Education Law Center). 

As we confront persistent and long-standing gaps in student performance by race, income, and other student characteristics, EdTrust-Tennessee, along with our partners in the TN Alliance for Equity in Education and stakeholders from across the state, are working to ensure that we are uplifting community voices to address these long-standing inequities in outcomes and map a better future for our students together. We commit to working alongside our students and their families, educators, our partners, and policymakers alike to help chart a path forward that ensures critical resources reach the students and schools who need them most.

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EdTrust-Tennessee Statement text set on top of the Tennessee state capitol