Last October, the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results were released. Across the nation, educators took a collective pause as we all contemplated the sharp declines in reading and math compared to the 2019 assessment, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic erupted.
In this blog post, Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Appalachia reviews the 2022 NAEP results and shares research-based resources to help teachers accelerate students' learning in reading and math.
What is the National Assessment of Educational Progress?
Every two years,1 NAEP creates a snapshot of achievement in reading, math, and other subjects by testing a nationally representative sample of grade 4 and grade 8 students in public and private schools. Also known as the Nation's Report Card, NAEP results are available for the nation, by state, by urban district, and by demographic group. Results across testing years depict changes in student achievement over time.
What do the 2022 reading and math scores show?
Figure 1. Percentage of U.S. public school students scoring at or above Proficient on NAEP
Note: Data are from the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2019 and 2022 Reading Assessment and 2019 and 2022 Mathematics Assessment.
There is no downplaying the 2022 results, which show declines in reading and math for students in grades 4 and 8 across the nation compared to 2019 pre-pandemic scores. For public school students, reading proficiency dropped by 2 percentage points for grade 4 and 3 percentage points for grade 8. Math proficiency dropped even more for both grades, by 5 percentage points for grade 4 and an unprecedented 7 percentage points for grade 8. In sum, only about a third or fewer of our nation's public school grade 4 and 8 students are performing at or above the NAEP Proficient achievement level in reading or math.
The 2022 NAEP results also underscore how the pandemic has exacerbated inequities in academic outcomes. Grade 4 and 8 math scores declined across most racial/ethnic groups, and the score gaps between grade 4 Black and Hispanic students and their White peers grew in 2022 compared to 2019. Differences by gender also widened in both grades, with the grade 4 math scores of girls dropping further than the scores of boys to the largest margin since 1990.
Want to take a deeper dive into the NAEP data at the national level and in our four state region?
Check out this factsheet!
How are leaders in the REL Appalachia region responding to the results?
Like the rest of the nation, REL Appalachia states saw declines in NAEP scores for reading and math, and their education leaders are already thinking about responses. Kentucky Commissioner of Education Jason Glass noted, "The NAEP results are not unexpected and show the profound impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our students." Glass admits that "recovering from so much interrupted learning will take time" but sees an opportunity to use these data "strategically to help inform us of where our students are and provide appropriate supports to keep them moving ahead."
Whether or not students keep moving ahead has important ramifications for postsecondary education. Catherine Finnegan, assistant vice chancellor for research and reporting at the Virginia Community College System, notes that college faculty are already expressing concern "about the level of preparedness declining in their current classrooms." Administrators in higher education "need to have student educational supports available, not only for currently incoming classes, but potentially for years to come," Finnegan said.
For Chris Jones, executive director of the Virginia Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development, the NAEP results intensify the need for multi-tiered systems of support. It is imperative to help teachers develop and maintain "high-quality Tier 1 instruction" that "differentiate[s] appropriate levels of support and challenge for our students and their learning differences." Tier 2 interventions, which are "intentional and targeted," could include "high-dose tutoring" integrated into the school day, Jones explains.
The NAEP results have also reaffirmed the need for teaching strategies based on evidence for what works. Jamie Reagan, math coach at Bell Elementary School in Monticello, Kentucky, hopes that "districts will be able to use the comparative [NAEP] data to identify gaps and trends within their district to measure the fidelity of instructional practices." We can "look at programs that were implemented," Reagan says, "to compare the expected growth to the actual growth."
What can teachers in the REL Appalachia region do?
Teachers are powerful difference-makers in the lives of their students. REL Appalachia believes that providing teachers with resources and support, backed by evidence about what works, is how we can best help teachers offer intentional, targeted support to help all students succeed and accelerate their learning in reading and math.
Providing teachers with research-based resources and strategies is what we do at REL Appalachia. We are here for you, as you consider what strategies and support best meet your needs, and we can help you set your students on the road to greater success in reading, math, and beyond.
In the table below, we offer a curated set of freely available resources, organized by content, grade band, topic area, and intended user. Contact the REL Appalachia team at REL.Appalachia@sri.com with any questions or for further assistance, and be sure to check out more great resources on the REL Appalachia website.
Resources from the REL Program and the What Works Clearinghouse
Literacy resources
Grade band | Topic area(s) | Intended users | Resource name and link |
PreK-K | Phonological awareness, print knowledge, oral language, and vocabulary | Tutors, teachers, school leaders | Foundations in Emergent Literacy Instruction [infographic] |
PreK-K | Emergent literacy | Teachers, coaches, school leaders | |
PreK-K | Literacy, integrating play | Teacher leaders, coaches, school and district leaders | Integrating Play into Literacy Instruction: Interview [video and viewing guide] |
PreK-1 | Vocabulary | Tutors, teachers, coaches | A Teaching Routine for Academic Vocabulary in Grades PreK-1 [video] |
PreK-3 | Reading instruction and intervention strategies | Teacher leaders, coaches, school and district leaders | Assisting Students Struggling with Reading Response to Intervention (RtI) and Multi-Tier Intervention in the Primary Grades [practice guide] |
PreK-3 | Literacy | Tutors, teachers, coaches | |
PreK-3 | Supporting multilingual learners | Teachers, teachers of multilingual learners | Joyful Reading and Writing with Young Children [resource collection] |
PreK-12 | Literacy coaching | Teacher leaders, coaches, school and district leaders | Self-Study Guide for Evidence-Based Coaching for Literacy: PreK-Grade 12 [self-study guide] |
K-3 | Alphabetics, fluency, comprehension | Tutors, teachers, coaches | On Course for Reading Success: Best Practices for Teaching Beginning Readers [infographic] |
K-3 | Literacy | Tutors, teachers, coaches | Integrating Play into Literacy Instruction: Strategies for Your Classroom [video and viewing guide] |
K-3 | Phonics | Tutors, teachers, coaches | Phonological Awareness: The Sounds of Reading [blog post] |
K-3 | Reading comprehension | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade [practice guide] |
K-3 | Phonics | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade [video] |
K-3 | Language and comprehension | Tutors, teachers, coaches | Interactive Readalouds: Learning from Books Together [video] |
K-3 | Reading | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade [practice guide] |
K-3 | Reading | Teachers | Supporting Family Engagement in Foundational Reading Skills [teachers' guides] |
K-3 | Learning at home: Reading | Teachers to share with families | Supporting Your Child's Reading at Home [videos and activities] |
K-3 | Literacy and intervention | School and district leaders | Literacy Instruction Strategies for Success: Multi-Tier Intervention in Primary Grades [video] |
K-5 | Literacy for Multilingual Learners | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades [practice guide] |
K-8 | Literacy and academic content | Teachers, teachers of multilingual learners, coaches, school and district leaders | Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School [practice guide] |
K-8 | Supporting multilingual learners | Teachers, teachers of multilingual learners | |
K-12 | Supporting multilingual learners and students with disabilities | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Reading Across the Content Areas: An Overview [infographic] |
K-12 | Literacy (and math) tutoring | Tutors, teachers, school and district leaders | High-Quality Tutoring to Accelerate Learning: A Deeper Dive into Literacy and Mathematics [recorded webinar] |
4-8 | Literacy supervision | School leaders | Guide and Checklists for a School Leader's Walkthrough During Literacy Instruction in Grades 4-12 [tool] |
4-9 | Literacy and reading; children with disabilities | Teachers, interventionists, coaches, reading specialists, school leaders | Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4-9 [practice guide] |
5-12 | Literacy | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices [practice guide] |
6-12 | Supporting secondary students | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Resource Roundup: Supporting Student Literacy at the Secondary Level [blog post] |
Mathematics resources
Grade band | Topic area(s) | Intended users | Resource name and link |
PreK-3 | Early math | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Teaching Math to Young Children [practice guide] |
PreK-3 | Learning at home: Math in the natural environment | Families | Two Strategies to Help Your Child Learn to Love Math [video] |
PreK-3 | Learning at home: Math in the natural environment | School staff to share with families | New Cross-REL Early Childhood Math Resource Is Designed for Families and Caregivers [blog post and resources] |
PreK-3 | Learning at home: Math in the natural environment | Families, afterschool providers, caregivers | Supporting Children's Early Math Instruction at Home [infographic] |
PreK-3 | Early math | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | REL Central Videos on WWC Practice Guide Teaching Math to Young Children [videos] |
PreK-3 | Early math: Posing rich mathematical questions | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | |
PreK-8 | Math instructional strategies | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Using Visual Representations to Assist Elementary and Middle School Students Struggling with Math [infographic] |
PreK-8 | Math instructional strategies | Teachers, coaches, school leaders, district leaders | Using Visual Representations with Students Struggling with Math [video] |
PreK-12 | Math professional learning | Coaches, math specialists, and school, district and state leaders | Six Steps to Build Research into Cohesive Math Professional Learning [infographic] |
PreK-12 | Math professional learning | Coaches, math specialists, and school, district and state leaders | Implementing a Professional Learning Model to Improve Mathematics Teaching Webinar Series [recording, slide deck, and templates] |
K-5 | Math instructional and intervention strategies | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Intervention in the Elementary Grades [practice guide] |
K-5 | Math anxiety | Tutors, teachers, coaches | Two Classroom Strategies to Reduce Students' Math Anxiety [video] |
K-8 | Math instructional and intervention strategies | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention (RtI) for Elementary and Middle Schools [practice guide] |
K-8 | Fractions | Coaches, math specialists, and school, district and state leaders | Developing Effective Fractions Instruction for Kindergarten Through 8th Grade [practice guide] |
K-8 | Patterns | Tutors, teachers, coaches | Using Tables, Charts, or Lists to Find a Pattern to Assist Elementary and Middle School Students Struggling with Math [infographics] |
K-12 | Reasoning skills | Teachers, coaches, math specialists | Developing Reasoning Skills Series: [infographics] |
K-12 | Math and social emotional learning | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Planting SEAD in Mathematics for Meaningful Learning [blog post] |
K-12 | Math and social emotional learning | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | SEL + Math = Integrated Instruction for the Whole Child [conference presentation] |
K-12 | Equitable instruction | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Mathematics Instruction with an Equity Lens [blog post] |
K-12 | Math (and literacy) tutoring | Tutors, teachers, school and district leaders | High-Quality Tutoring to Accelerate Learning: A Deeper Dive into Literacy and Mathematics [recorded webinar] |
4-6 | Math instructional strategies | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Preparing All Students for Algebra: Applying Research-Based Strategies [slide deck and handouts] |
4-8 | Problem-solving | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Improving Mathematical Problem Solving in Grades 4 Through 8 [practice guide] |
4-8 | Problem-solving | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Using the Practice Guide to Improve Mathematical Problem Solving in Grades 4-8 [recording and slide deck] |
4-8 | Problem-solving | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Evidence-Based Strategies for Increasing Students' Math Performance [infographic] |
4-8 | Problem-solving | Teacher leaders, coaches, math specialists, school and district leaders | Things to Know About the IES Professional Learning Community (PLC) Facilitator's Guide on Mathematical Problem Solving [infographic] |
4-8 | Learning at home: Problem-solving | Families | Supporting Mathematical Problem Solving at Home [infographic] |
4-8 | Math instructional strategies | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders | Using Questioning Strategies to Support Struggling Math Students [webinar and slide deck] |
4-12 | Math instructional strategies | Teachers, coaches, school and district leaders |
