For Immediate Release
Contact: Mariel Matze, [email protected], (510) 879-6208

Oakland, CA — Natalie Wheatfall-Lum, J.D., Director of TK-12 Policy at EdTrust-West, issued the following statement in response to the release of 2024 results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as “The Nation’s Report Card”:

This year’s “Nation’s Report Card” is one California should be ashamed of: the pace of progress for Californian students of color is not just slow, it’s stopped altogether. Equity gaps remain as wide as they were 25 years ago. These NAEP scores reflect unacceptable stagnation in both math and reading scores and entrenched gaps between both Black and Latinx students and their white and Asian peers and between students from low-income households and their wealthier peers.

Anyone looking at these results should be asking what California has been doing for 25 years and why it hasn’t worked. California needs to radically rethink the way we educate our kids—and to care more about kids of color. The state likes to see itself as a progressive leader; in reality, it spends a pitifully small amount on public education compared to its mighty GDP—a smaller share than New Jersey, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, and 29 other states . What’s more, the students who have been left the farthest behind are least likely to get the resources they need to succeed, including and especially students of color, multilingual learners, and students from low-income households.

California leaders must do more to guarantee students who are currently failed by our education system have access to well-prepared educators and that school and district leaders are equipped to make informed decisions about how best to allocate funding to improve learning.

Among the key results of the 2024 NAEP:

• California schools supported only 10% of Black 4th graders and 11% of Black 8th graders to demonstrate proficiency on NAEP in math. Black 8th graders had an average score that was 35 points lower than that for white students, a gap similar to a quarter century ago in 2000.
• California schools supported only 22% of Latinx 4th graders and 12% of Latinx 8th graders to reach proficiency on NAEP in math. Latinx 8th graders had an average score that was 34 points lower than that of white students, a comparable gap to that of 2000.
• California schools supported only 7% of Black 4th graders—fewer than 1 in 10—to reach proficiency on NAEP in reading, and only 19% of Black 8th graders to reach proficiency in reading. Black 4th grade students’ average score was 40 points lower than the average score for white students, not significantly different than the gap of roughly 25 years earlier (1998).
• California schools supported only 19% of Latinx 4th graders and 18% of Latinx 8th graders to demonstrate proficiency on NAEP in reading. Latinx 4th graders had an average score that was 24 points lower than white students, a gap similar to 1998.
• California schools supported only 21% of 4th graders and 13% of 8th graders from low-income households to reach proficiency on NAEP in math. In reading, schools supported only 18% of 4th graders and the same share of 8th graders from low-income households to reach proficiency.

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About EdTrust-West

EdTrust-West is an evidence-driven advocacy organization committed to advancing policies and practices to dismantle the racial and economic barriers embedded in California’s education system. For over two decades, EdTrust-West has worked to improve racial equity in education by engaging diverse communities and increasing political and public will to build an education system where students of color and multilingual learners will thrive. For more information, see edtrustwest.org.