Last month I wrote about the release of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test scores for 2024. The news was not good.
The data showed that reading scores, which had fallen dramatically from 2019 to 2022, fell again in 2024, with a record portion of eight-graders scoring in the lowest category for proficiency. Math scores rose a bit for fourth-graders — a bright spot — but were flat in eighth grade compared to 2022.
So the news is bad almost everywhere but in Baltimore city where the cost of public schools has been skyrocketing, the scores showed a slight improvement in math and no change in reading since the last set of tests two years ago.
However, there is a catch. Baltimore’s scores didn’t drop but that’s probably because the city’s schools are already near the very bottom, ranking 4th from last in both math and reading on a…
