2023 NAEP Test Scores Illustrate the Importance of High-Dosage Tutoring
The Impact of Learning Loss
Two decades’ worth of academic progress have been erased. The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Long-Term Trend Assessment scores reveal the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education. Math and reading scores for 13-year-olds across the United States dropped dramatically between 2020 and 2023, continuing the decline seen among 9-year-olds from 2020 to 2022, when performance levels reverted to those of 20 years ago.
NAEP Test Background and Insights
Known as “the nation’s report card,” the NAEP Long-Term Trend (LTT) test compares student achievement over decades. In 2022, approximately 15,000 9-year-olds from more than 400 schools across the country were tested. In 2023, about 8,700 13-year-olds participated in each subject test.
Between 2020 and 2022, 9-year-old students’ average scores declined five (5) points in reading and seven (7) points in mathematics. These declines marked the largest drop in reading scores since 1990 and the first-ever drop in math scores since 1973. In 2023, scores for 13-year-olds continued to fall:
- Reading scores declined four (4) points compared to 2020 and seven (7) points compared to a decade ago.
- Math scores fell nine (9) points compared to 2020 and 14 points compared to a decade ago.
Additional Key Insights
- In 2022, reading and math scores declined across all performance levels for 9-year-old students. Lower-performing students experienced larger declines than their higher-performing peers.
- In 2023, 13-year-olds showed similar trends, with lower-performing students seeing a decline of 12 to 14 points in math compared to a 6 to 8-point decline for middle- and higher-performing students.
- The score gap between Black and white students widened in math, increasing from 35 points in 2020 to 42 points in 2023.
- In 2023, 13-year-olds reported missing more school days compared to 2020. The percentage of students missing five or more days in the last month doubled from 5% to 10%.
- Students with fewer missed school days had higher average scores than those with more absences.
The Importance of High-Dosage Tutoring
The NAEP data underscores the critical need for effective intervention strategies like high-dosage tutoring. By addressing learning loss through intensive, small-group or one-on-one tutoring sessions, students can rebuild foundational skills and narrow achievement gaps. High-dosage tutoring has been proven to accelerate learning and improve student outcomes in both reading and math.
