Drops in Reading and Math Scores Emphasize the Need to Continue Maryland’s Commitment to a Good Education for Every Child

As the first standardized test scores reported since the start of the COVID pandemic show more Maryland students struggling with math and reading, it is more important than ever that the state maintain the commitments it made to students through the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future legislation, which gained final passage in 2021.

The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as “The Nation’s Report Card,” showed a decline in fourth and eighth grade reading and mathematics scores for most states compared to 2019 with the dip in mathematics scores being the largest ever recorded. Maryland was among the majority of states that saw a decline in scores, which confirmed the toll the pandemic has taken on student learning.  However, while the decline in scores for 2022 can be in part attributed to the pandemic, it is important to note that there has been a national downward trend since 2013. The pandemic met a student learning environment that was already showing warning signs.

The results also show that there are significant gaps in learning outcomes for Asian, Black, Hispanic and white students in Maryland. As the state Department of Education and local school districts continue implementing the changes the Blueprint calls for, policymakers must ensure that we are making progress in addressing the racial disparities in our education system that have created and reinforced these gaps.

Poverty is another factor that plays a role in educational outcomes. Research has shown that low-poverty schools are 22 times more likely to reach consistently high academic achievements compared to high poverty schools. Among other resources, the Blueprint added “concentration of poverty” grants to the school funding formula to direct more resources to schools with a high concentration of poverty. This will help ensure that resources are directed to schools in areas that need them the most.

Here are findings from the 2022 NAEP test scores for Maryland:

Fourth Grade Reading:

70% of Maryland’s students were below proficient in reading, among which 44% were below basic while 31% were at or above proficient.  When we look at the achievement levels by race and ethnicity we find that 47% of white students and 54% of Asians students were proficient while just 20% of Black students and 15% of Hispanic students were proficient.

Fourth Grade Mathematics

69% of Maryland’s fourth graders were not proficient in Mathematics while 31% were at or above proficient. This is an area that has seen a significant decline since 2013 when 46% of fourth graders were below proficient in mathematics while 44% were proficient. We continue to have wide racial achievement level gaps with 84% of Black students and 87% of Hispanic students not proficient in mathematics while 32% of Asian students and 52% of white students were not proficient.

Eighth Grade Reading

67% of eight graders in Maryland were below proficient in reading in 2022, up from 64% percent in 2019 while 32% were at or above proficient in 2022 compared to 36% in 2019. 18% of Black students and 20% of Hispanic students were proficient in reading while 63% of Asian students and 49% of white students were proficient.

Eighth Grade Mathematics

25% of eight graders in Maryland were at or above proficient in mathematics a decline from 33% in 2019. Just 8% of Black students and 10% of Hispanic students were at or above proficient while 63% of Asian students and 41% of white students were at or above proficient.

The results from this year and previous NAEP results show that Maryland has a lot of work to do in ensuring that all of its students are proficient in math and reading. We must continue to pursue policies to every Maryland student gets the resources they need to thrive and uphold our commitment to address racial disparities in education. You can see additional details about the Maryland’s NAEP scores here