State test scores fall slightly

CASPER — Wyoming’s 2022 scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress dropped slightly from 2019, mirroring a countrywide trend of decreasing scores on the test following the COVID-19 pandemic. 
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) testing is administered every two years under the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act. (The 2021 assessment was postponed because of the pandemic.) It tests proficiency in reading and math for fourth- and eighth-grade students across the country. 
Academic scores for NAEP tests range from zero to 500. 
Unlike the WY-TOPP, the state’s assessment tool, NAEP assessments don’t test all students in grades three though 10. Instead, it takes a statistical sample of students, like a survey or a poll. 
Wyoming’s NAEP scores have stayed consistently above national averages for the past three decades. This year, only Department of Defense Education Activity schools, which educate kids of military families, outperformed Wyoming in fourth- and eighth-grade math and fourth-grade reading, according to a statement from the Wyoming Department of Education. 
Just four states outperformed Wyoming in eighth-grade reading. 
That being said, Wyoming’s NAEP scores, like those for other states, have also consistently stayed below the NAEP’s “proficient” cutoff scores, which is a step above the NAEP’s “basic” cutoff score. 
Wyoming’s scores this year were slightly lower across the board compared to scores from 2019.
“It is not surprising that the pandemic has had a negative impact on student achievement nationwide,” Chad Auer, deputy state superintendent of public instruction, said in a statement from the Wyoming Department of Education. 
Fourth-grade reading dropped from 227 in 2019 to 225 this year. This drop, however, isn’t statistically significant, meaning that the reading score essentially stayed the same from 2019. 
That score is higher than the national average of 216 and lower than the NAEP’s proficient cutoff score of 238. 
Fourth-grade reading scores have dropped since 2015. 
Scores for eighth-grade reading also dropped from 265 to 261. 
Wyoming’s eighth-grade NAEP reading score has fallen since 2013, when it reached a high score of 271. 
Math scores for these grades also dropped from 2019. For fourth grade, the score decreased from 246 to 243; for eighth grade, from 286 to 281. 
Both fourth- and eighth-grade NAEP scores have dropped since 2017. Those results mirror the downward national trend since 2019 for public schools. 
Math scores for eighth grade fell from 2019 to 2022 in 49 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Wyoming Department of Education. 
Scores fell in 42 states for fourth-grade math and in 33 states for eighth-grade reading. But Wyoming students continued to outperform the NAEP’s national average test results, with the exception of eighth-grade reading, which was statistically on-par with the national average, according to the Wyoming Department of Education. 
“Students and education employees faced the incredible challenges brought on by the pandemic in 2020 head-on, and our state’s relative stability in NAEP scores is a testament to their hard work and dedication,” Grady Hutcherson, president of the Wyoming Education Association, said in a statement. 
Hutcherson acknowledged, however, the slight decline in the NAEP scores. 
“We must remain vigilant in acknowledging and serving the changing needs of students and educators in the wake of the pandemic,” he said. 
He called for the “thoughtful, efficient use” of COVID relief money to serve those needs. 
The Wyoming Department of Education also praised in its statement the “continued strong performance” among Hispanic, special education and school lunch program students in Wyoming, who outperformed their peers nationally in fourth- and eighth-grade math, as well as fourth-grade reading. 
“Wyoming’s teachers continue to demonstrate a strong commitment to equity and providing a high quality education to ALL students regardless of a student’s ethnicity, socioeconomic status or learning challenges,” Auer said in the statement. 
 
This story was published on Oct. 25, 2022.