(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) announced that newly released data for the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows continued progress across the District’s public schools, with scores either improving or staying consistent across all four assessments: fourth grade reading, fourth grade math, eighth grade reading, and eighth grade math. This is in contrast to national trends; nationally, performance dropped or stayed flat in fourth grade reading, eighth grade math, and eighth grade reading. In fourth grade, DC students tied with Delaware for the greatest improvement in math in the nation.
“Last week, we celebrated our educators and school communities at the Standing Ovation. Today, these results once again underscore the progress that is possible when you have strong programs and world class educators in every public school,” said Mayor Bowser. “The NAEP results tell the story of education in DC – how we became the fastest improving urban school district in the country, and now, how we are relentless in our work to get students back on track. That work is happening every day, in schools across all eight wards.”
Administered every two years, the NAEP, also known as the Nation’s Report Card, measures national, state, and urban district-level student achievement in math and reading in grades 4 and 8. In DC, a representative sample of DC Public Schools (DCPS) and DC public charter school students take the NAEP. Students in every state have been taking this version of the NAEP assessment for more than 30 years, which gives OSSE an immense amount of data and the ability to look through time, see quantifiable progress, and determine what is working to move student progress.
On the 2024 NAEP assessment, the average score for DC fourth graders increased by 8 scale score points in math over the 2022 NAEP assessment, which tied for the largest improvement in the country on average scaled scores on any of the assessments. Otherwise, District scores for 2024 largely mirror those of 2022 with clear signs of progress: eighth grade average scale scores are up two points in math and two points in reading and fourth grade reading average score is up two scale score points, compared to 2022 results.
“While we still have more work to do, it is exciting to see that our hard work and investments in improving math and reading proficiency have us back on a positive trajectory,” said Interim State Superintendent Dr. Antoinette S. Mitchell. “Congratulations to all students who took the NAEP and proved education in DC is on the right track.”
More District students are performing at or above the NAEP Proficient achievement level than in 2022 across all four assessments, and more students moved from Below Basic into Basic and from Basic into Proficient and Advanced. For example, in fourth grade math, the percentage of students scoring in the Below Basic category fell from 43% in 2022 to 35% in 2024.
Nationally, fourth graders improved two points in math and dropped two points in reading, and eighth graders dropped one point in math and two points in reading. No state or jurisdiction saw statistically significant increases in eighth-grade math, fourth grade reading, or eighth grade reading, and some saw declines.
While DC’s NAEP results show encouraging improvement over 2022, achievement gaps persist between white students and their Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino peers, as do gaps between economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students. Among the bright spots in 2024 student group results, Hispanic/Latino students in the District outperformed their peers nationally and in large urban districts in fourth grade reading.
Results from the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) were also released today. TUDA uses NAEP data to compare progress among large cities nationwide; DCPS is included in that data release. In fourth grade reading, DCPS improved three points, surpassing both the large city and national averages. In fourth-grade math, DCPS improved 10 scale points, surpassing the average for large cities and approaching the national average. In eighth grade math, DCPS improved three points and in eighth grade reading, DCPS closed the gap with their large-city peers, improving three points.
“Our progress as reflected in this year’s NAEP scores speaks to the hard work of our students and educators as we continue to recover from the pandemic’s challenges, which were especially significant in math,” said DCPS Chancellor Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee. “Compared to other trial urban districts, DCPS is encouraged by significant gains in Grade 4 Math as well as a return to our pre-pandemic scores in reading. As we accelerate learning in math and reading, our focus remains on ensuring that every student receives the resources and support they need to achieve.”
Gaps between the performance of Washington, DC and other large cities has closed considerably over the past two decades. In 2003, DC had an average scale score 19 points below the large city average in fourth grade math, 16 points below in fourth grade reading, 19 points below in eighth grade math, and 10 points below in eighth grade reading. Since then, the District became the fasting improving urban school district, and in 2024, DC had an average scale score just four points below the large city average in eighth grade math and closed the gap with other large cities in fourth grade math, fourth grade reading, and eighth grade reading.
The Bowser Administration has continued to make significant investments in programs proven to accelerate learning. Those investments include high-quality instructional materials for teachers to improve instruction in math and academic supports for students impacted most by the pandemic, including nearly $40 million to provide high-impact tutoring (HIT) for thousands of DC students over the past four years. In December, Mayor Bowser announced an additional $7 million for HIT programs than will serve 6,000 students across 90 DCPS and public charter schools during the 2024-25 school year.
For more information NAEP and statewide results, visit OSSE’s website.
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