E4E Statement on Newly Released NAEP Long-Term Trend Reading and Math Assessments

Evan Stone, Co-Founder and CEO of Educators for Excellence, issued the following statement on the newly released NAEP Long-Term Trend data:

“Today’s results, which demonstrate improved student performance among 9-year-olds, are yet another promising indication that our schools are benefiting from the national shift toward high-quality instructional materials in the early grades. We had already seen positive results in communities that have embraced these strategies, and can now see the impact in national data. 

“This progress, and particularly the gains among our lowest-performing students, is an achievement worth celebrating. It’s also, though, a reminder of the work that remains. Achievement gaps persist and underscore the need for a system that focuses investment on the students and schools that need it most. The academic stagnation among 13-year-olds reveals that more must be done to give older students access to the same high-quality instructional materials that their younger peers are benefiting from. 

“Educators have long pointed to the solutions we know work: high-quality curriculum, aligned professional learning, and strategic investments that ensure students and schools with the greatest needs receive the strongest support. Now, elected leaders and education decision-makers must extend the vision teachers have laid out to every classroom.”

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