RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia fourth and eighth graders' math and reading scores have not significantly changed since 2022, per the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation's Report Card.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin said at a Wednesday press conference that the scores on this assessment, which was taken last January, were "not surprising" and "expected."
"We have a long way to go and we have a lot of work to do," he said.
Fourth and eighth graders are tested for the NAEP every two years in reading and math. Virginia's scores have been declining since 2017 and the most recent results saw minimal changes from the first post-pandemic test in 2022.
Fourth grade reading scores remain unchanged and are now in line with the national average, which declined. Math scores increased in the state and nation and are near even.
Eighth graders saw decreases in both subjects. Officials say those students were doing out-of-school learning during the pandemic during a crucial time for learning.
"Transition from those early grades to where content gets complex, reading gets more rigorous, math gets more complicated, and those students missed a lot of that," said Dr. Lisa Coons, Superintendent of Public Instructions for the Virginia Department of Education. "We're seeing that persistent gap in that learning loss."
However, officials also point to last year's SOL scores, which showed improvements in the same subjects.
Youngkin said those tests were taken several months after the NAEP tests, thus allowing time for investments he and the General Assembly have made in schools to be fully implemented.
Richmond Superintendent Jason Kamras said the NAEP scores show how much work needs to be done. Among what he's focused on is addressing chronic absenteeism and teacher vacancies, with over 100 positions open.
"We see some acute issues in some of the STEM-related subjects in secondary school, which is a fairly common thing to happen," Kamras said. "So we're looking at differentiated compensation to attract folks, but again, looking for an all-hands approach."
Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-Henrico) said these scores are a reflection of a long-term problem requiring a long-term solution, and that it can be traced back to when Virginia and other states neglected public education funding after the recession.
VanValkenburg said the Youngkin Administration has been too focused on short-term goals like culture war issues and privatizing schools, and lawmakers are putting longer-term fixes forward at the General Assembly this year, like improving testing and teaching material and changes to the school funding formula.
"That could be based on socio-economics, that could be based on English language learners, that could be based on special education. It could be based on accountability systems, right? But it takes the money that the state provides public education and goes to where it's needed," VanValkenburg said.
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