CA Reading, Math Scores Are Falling. Here’s How They Compare Nationally

A new interactive map from Stanford University’s Educational Opportunity Project shows California's students are performing on par with their peers nationwide.

Researchers at Harvard and Dartmouth joined their peers at Stanford in analyzing third- through eighth-grade test scores from more than 5,000 school districts in 38 states for the Education Scorecard project.

Overall, they found U.S. students remain nearly half a grade level behind pre-pandemic reading levels, reflecting a long-running “reading recession” worsened by the pandemic.

Annual national math and reading assessments evaluate the foundational skills that schools and policymakers view as critical for students' future academic and professional success.

Although learning rates in California are roughly the same as the nation's average, test scores are lower and learning rates are declining, according to the data on the interactive map.

Neighboring states such as Nevada and Arizona appear to be following similar trends. Except, Nevada has seen improving test scores while California and Arizona's have remained stagnant.

Florida students, meanwhile, performed the worst out of every state, the data shows, while New Jersey ranked the highest.

The report sheds light on one of America’s most persistent challenges: where a child lives and the socioeconomic conditions surrounding them still strongly predict academic performance.

The map, which compares average academic achievement across states and includes filters for socioeconomic status and demographics, paints a familiar but troubling picture of educational inequality nationwide.

States in the Northeast and parts of the Upper Midwest generally had stronger test scores, while many Southern and Southwestern states lag behind. Researchers say the trends reflect long-standing disparities tied to poverty, school funding, housing segregation and access to educational resources.

The Stanford Educational Opportunity Project describes its database as the first comprehensive national effort to measure educational opportunity using standardized test scores from millions of public-school students.

Experts say the map reinforces growing evidence that socioeconomic status remains one of the strongest predictors of student success.

"Educational opportunity in America is still deeply uneven," the project notes in its research overview, emphasizing that differences in academic outcomes are shaped both inside and outside the classroom.

The findings come as educators nationwide continue grappling with learning loss and widening achievement gaps following the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent national reports have shown that while some districts are recovering academically, progress has been uneven, especially in lower-income communities.

Education researchers say the map also highlights how state averages can mask large disparities within states themselves. Wealthier suburban districts often outperform nearby lower-income urban and rural communities by wide margins.

The project’s creators hope the visualization tool will help policymakers, educators and families better understand how geography, income and opportunity intersect in American schools.

» Go here for the interactive map.