CMS reading scores in line with national decline while math sees improvement, data shows
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools saw improvement in elementary math scores in 2024, but otherwise remained relatively stagnant, according to new data released Wednesday.
The 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card, showed CMS outperformed most other large urban districts in the country despite little change in most tested areas. CMS posted its worst scores on record in the 2022 NAEP.
NAEP officials say the results line up with trends around the country, with high-performing students seeing gains, while low-performing students fell further behind. Most states – including North Carolina – continue to perform lower than pre-pandemic levels.
“The higher performers are moving forward. For them, it’s a story of growth, but that’s not true for the lower performers,” said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. “These 2024 results clearly show our children are not where they need to be or where we want them to be.”
CMS data highlights
Fourth grade math was the only area in which CMS saw a statistically significant improvement on the NAEP in 2024. Its gains were larger than North Carolina, which also saw improvement.
CMS reading scores declined slightly in fourth and eighth grade. Nationwide data reflects the same downward trend.
“Our lowest performing students are reading at historically low levels,” said Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board. “The lowest performing students need our urgent attention and our best effort.”
The NAEP has three levels of student achievement: basic, proficient and advanced. It’s also possible for students to score below “basic.”
If a student scores “basic” but not “proficient,” that doesn’t mean that the child cannot read or do math. But they have not met the level of proficiency needed for solid academic performance at their grade-level, as determined by the National Center for Education Statistics.
In CMS, 43% of fourth graders who were tested scored proficient or above in math — up from 35% in 2022. The percentage of 8th graders scoring proficient or above in math increased from 30% in 2022 to 32% in 2024.
Meanwhile, the percentage of CMS fourth graders that scored proficient or better in reading declined by 2% — from 33% in 2022 to 31% in 2024. Eighth grade reading scores also declined — from 29% proficient and above in 2022 to 27% in 2024.
CMS outperformed the state and national average in every category except for eighth grade reading. There, it matched the state average and fell below the national average by 2%.
The district also saw persistent achievement gaps between white and Black and Hispanic students, which are wider in 2024 than they were in 2003, when the district began participating in the NAEP.
“Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is committed to ensuring excellent educational outcomes for our students,” said Superintendent Crystal Hill in a news release Wednesday. “We know those outcomes begin with literacy, which is the foundation for a student’s academic success and lifelong learning.”
The national decline in reading
Reading scores on the NAEP have been declining nationwide since 2017, with the sharpest drop-off after the pandemic. This year, the lowest performers on NAEP reading scored below levels seen 30 years ago.
Experts say the pandemic is not entirely to blame.
While achievement hasn’t rebounded since the pandemic, particularly among low-performing students, neither has school attendance.
“One of the obvious messages from this data for parents is that kids need to be in school,” Carr said. “Kids are not learning if they’re not there.”
Chronic absenteeism is when a student misses 10% of school days or more, and it’s linked with poor student performance.
Carr also said students are not reporting reading for fun as much as they used to.
“Students’ joy for reading is declining,” she said. “This is a tough call we have here as a nation to turn this thing around.”
Carr said there is “not much cause for celebration,” in this year’s results. However, Muldoon says there is hope.
“Progress was possible before, and it is possible again,” she said.
This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "CMS reading scores in line with national decline while math sees improvement, data shows."
