State Superintendent of Education says he’s pleased with Alabama’s NAEP scores

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WBRC) - Students across the state have something to celebrate.

The Nation’s Report Card shows Alabama is the only state with growth in both reading and math among 4th graders.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, measures how well students perform over time and against other states—and many were concerned the pandemic would negatively impact Alabama’s scores.

Nationwide, the average math and reading scores for 4th graders dropped, but here in Alabama— noticeable improvement.

We’re now 39th in reading and 40th in math.

Eighth grade reading scores held steady, while math scores fell.

State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Eric Mackey, said he feels great about the results saying 4th graders are closing in on the national average.

“We’re the only state that made gains in both reading and mathematics. Now, our mathematics gain was small, but it was enough to move us within five points of the national average which has been a goal that we’ve had for long time to meet that national average, and then in reading our gains were more substantial which moved us within three points of the national average. So, it’s exactly what we wanted the story to be coming out of the pandemic,” Dr. Mackey said.

Dr. Mackey said special needs and English language learners also had significant gains this year.

He said the state is working right now on interventions to help students in upper grades.

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