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Plunging test scores are a slow-moving catastrophe

207 points · 414 comments · vinni2

  1. romaaeterna · · focus · HN ↗
    If you take the 1998 NAEP 8th grade reading scores by race, re-weight them by the new 2024 demographic makeup of American 8th graders, you will find a predicted point decline of 4.6, rather close to the actual 4 point fall over the period.

    Over the same period, reading scores actually improved somewhat for each of the 1998 poorly scoring groups (and quite a bit for Asians), but the poorly scoring groups simply make up so much more of the population now that it drags everything else down.

    | Group | 1998 NAEP | 2024 NAEP | Change |

    |---|---:|---:|---:|

    | White | *268* | *266* | −2 |

    | Black | *242* | *243* | +1 |

    | Hispanic | *241* | *245* | +4 |

    | Asian/Pacific Islander | *261* | *280* | +19 |

    | All public-school students | *261* | *257* | −4 |

    | Race/ethnicity | 1999 Grade 8 | 2023 Grade 8 | Change |

    |---|---:|---:|---:|

    | White | *64.5%* | *44.0%* | −20.5 pp |

    | Black | 16.1% | 14.9% | −1.2 pp |

    | Hispanic | *14.3%* | *29.4%* | +15.1 pp |

    | Asian/Pacific Islander* | 3.9% | 5.9% | +2.0 pp |

    | American Indian/Alaska Native | 1.2% | 0.9% | −0.3 pp |

    | Two or more races | not separately reported | 4.8% | — |

    1. shagie · · focus · HN ↗
      With pre-formatted table:

          Group                           1998 NAEP  2024 NAEP  Change
          -----------------------------  ----------  ---------  ------
          White                                 268        266      −2
          Black                                 242        243      +1
          Hispanic                              241        245      +4
          Asian/Pacific Islander                261        280     +19
          All public-school students            261        257      −4
      
          Race/ethnicity                     1999 Grade 8  2023 Grade 8    Change
          ---------------------------------  ------------  ------------  --------
          White                                      64.5%         44.0%  −20.5 pp
          Black                                      16.1%         14.9%   −1.2 pp
          Hispanic                                   14.3%         29.4%  +15.1 pp
          Asian/Pacific Islander                      3.9%          5.9%   +2.0 pp
          American Indian/Alaska Native               1.2%          0.9%   −0.3 pp
          Two or more races                not separately reported  4.8%      -
      1. tusimi · · focus · HN ↗
        why leave out intermediate years that show the rise before the fall?

            Group                          1998 NAEP  2013 NAEP  2024 NAEP  Change 98–13  Change 98–24  Change 13–24
            -----------------------------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ------------  ------------  ------------
            White                                268        275        266            +6            −2            −9
            Black                                242        250        243            +8            +1            −7
            Hispanic                             241        255        245           +13            +3           −10
            Asian/Pacific Islander               261        279        280           +18           +18            +1
            All public-school students           261        266        257            +5            −4            −9
        1. shagie · · focus · HN ↗
          I reformatted the table that was provided in the parent comment.

          Your additional table with the additional columns for 2013 absolutely helps with the shape of the data. The data for years 2013 to 2024 erases all the gains of 1998 to 2013 (and often a bit more) and shows a worrying drop (that the pessimist in me worries is just the start of the slope).

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