California students continue to perform below their pre-pandemic levels according to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results released today. While fourth-grade math showed a slight uptick, both fourth and eighth-grade reading scores declined, highlighting ongoing academic challenges in the nation's most populous state.
The NAEP assessment, often called "The Nation's Report Card," reveals California trailing national averages in both reading and math. Fourth-grade reading scores dropped, leaving California 9 points below 2017 levels. In math, despite minor improvements in fourth grade, scores remain below 2019 pre-pandemic marks, while eighth-grade math saw another decrease.
Particularly concerning is the widening achievement gap between student groups. In fourth-grade reading, students in the lowest performance percentiles showed steeper declines compared to their higher-achieving peers. While top performers' scores fell by 1-3 points since 2019, students in the bottom percentiles dropped by 8-10 points.
The racial and ethnic disparities remain pronounced. In fourth-grade reading, only 7% of Black students and 19% of Latino students reached Proficient or Advanced levels, compared to 50% of Asian students and 44% of white students. Overall, just 31% of California fourth-graders achieved Proficient or Advanced scores, slightly below the national average of 32%.
Los Angeles and San Diego school districts provided rare bright spots in the assessment. Los Angeles was among only three districts nationwide whose fourth-grade math scores improved slightly since 2019. Both districts showed resilience in reading scores, with Los Angeles maintaining stable levels and San Diego seeing minimal changes post-pandemic.
In response to these results, Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed $500 million in the 2025-26 budget for teacher training and encouraging districts to implement summer programs and tutoring to address learning gaps.
The NAEP results arrive as education experts point to various factors affecting student performance, including increased student absenteeism post-Covid, changes in federal accountability measures, and emerging evidence of grade inflation during the pandemic period. These findings may influence future education policy decisions in California as the state works to improve student achievement across all demographics.