Massachusetts ranked first in the nation on student math and reading assessments, according to new data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, but students’ overall average scores remain lower than they were before the 2020 pandemic.
Governor Maura Healey touted Massachusetts’ top spot at a Wednesday press conference, but said more needs to be done to help students regain lost educational ground.
“We must fully recover the progress lost during the pandemic,” Healey said, shortly after the release of the new data. “We’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer. And we’re doing the best in the country in terms of addressing that.”
The NAEP tests, given to fourth and eighth graders across the nation every two years, showed Massachusetts student reading results remained stagnant for eighth grade students and decreased slightly for fourth graders since 2022. In mathematics, eighth graders’ progress remained largely unchanged, while fourth graders scores increased slightly.
The data also continues to show a widening performance gap between students of color, English language learners and economically disadvantaged students and their white, wealthier counterparts, with declining rates for lower-performing students worsening over time.
Healey acknowledged the divide in her remarks.
“Our goal is not number one,” Healey said. “Our goal is to be the very best in terms of ensuring the true success and well-being of every student.”
Harvard researcher and NAEP governing board member Martin West said progress should be celebrated, but the “rapid decline” among low-performing students should ring alarm bells for state leaders.
The pandemic exacerbated overall declines in student scores, West said, but for students of color, low income or disadvantaged students in Massachusetts, the declines have been ongoing since 2010.
“The results reinforce the picture of Massachusetts as the number one state for some students, but not for all students,” West told GBH News. “We’ve seen higher achieving students performing as well as ever, while lower-achieving students are declining rapidly.”
The test results from 2010 could be a goal post for the state going forward, West said.
“The good news is that we know that we’re capable of performing at much higher levels than we are currently, overall and for disadvantaged students,” he said. “Because we’ve already done so.”
Massachusetts’ proposed budget for fiscal 2026 includes a $420 million increase in school spending that would more than double the minimum amount of school spending per student, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll said during Wednesday’s press conference.
“We’re drawing on every possible resource to get more support to our schools, and we’re trying to be as innovative as we can,” Driscoll said.
The state also plans to make investments in literacy, “high-dosage tutoring” in some districts, and a program to provide universal preschool access to four-year-olds in all Massachusetts’ “Gateway cities” by the end of 2026.
“We’re really targeting districts that have students from a diverse background and taking a conscious effort to put our thumb on the scale to try and close some of those equity gaps,” Driscoll said. “We’re looking at districts that have economically disadvantaged students to try and make sure those services are delivered there on the ground.”
