CASPER, Wyo. — Similar to most of the country, Wyoming saw declines in average fourth- and eighth-grade math and reading scores on the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation’s Report Card.
NAEP reading and math testing is generally administered every two years to fourth- and eighth-grade students in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Department of Defense schools. Testing initially slated for 2021 was postponed until 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wyoming’s scores on the 2022 NAEP assessments for fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math were down compared with 2019 average scores, though the decline in fourth-grade reading scores was not considered statistically different, the Wyoming Department of Education said in a press release Monday.
Wyoming is not alone in seeing declines in NAEP math and reading scores. In 2022, eighth-grade math scores fell in 49 states and the District of Columbia compared with 2019, the WDE’s press release said. Fourth-grade math scores fell in 42 states. Eighth-grade reading scores declined in 33 states and fourth-grade reading scores dropped in 30 states.
Despite the declines compared with years past, Wyoming’s scores were near the top of national averages. Only Department of Defense schools performed above Wyoming’s average score in fourth- and eighth-math and in fourth-grade reading, the WDE said. Only four states performed above Wyoming’s eighth-grade reading scores.
“A bright spot in Wyoming’s 2022 results is the continued strong performance by the state’s Hispanic, special education and school lunch program students,” the WDE said. “These student groups continue to outperform their peers nationally in grade 4 and 8 mathematics, and grade 4 reading. These contributions provided a lift, keeping Wyoming’s aggregate or overall scores above the national average.”
The WDE also provided a look at how Wyoming scored on the 2022 NAEP compared with states that allocate a similar amount of funding per student. Wyoming, alongside 14 other states, allocates about $15,000 per student based on 2020 U.S. Department of Education data, according to the WDE.
The following table indicates the percentage of Wyoming’s fourth-grade and eighth-grade students who scored at or above NAEP’s basic achievement level and shows how these percentages compare with states that provide a similar level of funding toward K–12 education:
“The percentage of Wyoming students scoring at or above NAEP Basic was higher than its peer funding states in 38 of these comparisons (statistically even with 16 states), and was only surpassed in two cases out of 56, by Massachusetts and New Jersey, both performing higher than Wyoming in grade 8 reading,” the WDE said. “Detailed 2022 Peer Funding States Comparison data can be found at the following links: Grade 4 Reading, Grade 8 Reading, Grade 4 Math, Grade 8 Math.”
Compared with bordering states, Wyoming was either statistically tied with or above the percentage of students performing at or above the NAEP basic achievement level, the WDE said.
“For average scale scores in grade 4 reading and mathematics, Wyoming was above adjacent states’ scores in eight of 12 comparisons,” the WDE said. “Detailed 2022 Peer Border States Comparison data can be found at the following links: Grade 4 Reading, Grade 8 Reading, Grade 4 Math, Grade 8 Math.”
NAEP testing involves statistical sampling of students, and results are not rendered for individual schools or school districts, the WDE noted.
“Due to the NAEP representative sampling strategy for assessing academic progress, sampling variability is inherent in all results,” the WDE said. “Consequently, NAEP data are similar to and resemble survey or polling results, where numeric differences in NAEP scores may not reflect statistically reliable or true distinctions in the data reported.
“NAEP provides an external reference or point-of-comparison to audit, review, and compare each state’s educational program. It serves as a common yardstick across jurisdictions and a shared, stable trend line over time for tracking student achievement during the continued flux nationally in states’ testing programs. The NAEP measurement scale represents a standardized national measurement of student achievement, with academic scores ranging from zero to 500 points.”
NAEP’s basic, proficient and advanced level cutoff scores are shown in the following table:
More details about Wyoming’s 2022 NAEP results are available from the WDE online.
