About 31% of 4th graders, 30% of 8th graders, and 35% of 12th graders were considered proficient or advanced in reading in 2024, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAEP, also known as the Nation’s Report Card, assesses 4th and 8th graders’ progress in reading and math approximately every two years. It assesses 12th graders every four years.
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The NAEP uses a scale of 0-500 points to group students into three achievement levels (basic, proficient, or advanced). “Proficient” is the benchmark used to describe students who demonstrate competency with challenging subject matter. However, NAEP proficiency is not the same as being on “grade level,” which is often assessed by other state and district tests. More information on NAEP skill expectations at each grade level is available here.
The NAEP also tests students on other school subjects, like science, civics, and US history, more sporadically. Students in public, private, and charter schools are included in NAEP testing.
Below is an actual question from the 12th grade test in 2024.
Read the article “Growing Vertical” by Mark Fischetti. The article states that vertical farming was “a fanciful notion only a few years ago.” This means that many people thought that vertical farming would:
In 2024, 8% of 4th graders were advanced readers and 23% were proficient, which means that about 7 out of 10 (69%) scored at basic or below. Seventy percent of 8th graders and 65% of 12th graders scored at basic or below.
In 2024, proficiency in reading was highest among 12th graders and lowest among 8th graders.
Percentage of students at each NAEP achievement level in 4th, 8th, and 12th grade in 2024
How has reading proficiency changed over time?
Fourth and 8th graders had lower reading proficiency in 2024 compared to 2022. Twelfth graders also had lower reading proficiency in 2024 compared to 2019, the two most recent test years. Fourth graders’ reading proficiency was highest in 2017 (37%). It was highest for 8th graders in 2013 and 2017 (36%), and highest for 12th graders in 1992 and 1998 (40%).
Reading proficiency decreased for 4th and 8th grades between 2022 and 2024, and decreased for 12th grade between 2019 and 2024
Percentage of 4th, 8th, and 12th graders who were proficient in reading, 1992–2024
Reading proficiency has also varied over time for students of varying demographics. This is often referred to as the achievement gap.
Among 4th graders in 2024, Asian/Pacific Islander students had the highest rate of reading proficiency. This has been the case since 2005. Additionally, Asian/Pacific Islander and white students had reading proficiency rates that were at least double those of Black and American Indian/Alaska Native students since 2003.
The reading proficiency rate for Asian/Pacific Islander students in 4th grade was 3.6 times higher than the group with the lowest rate (American Indian/Alaska Native) in 2024.
Percentage of 4th and 8th graders who were proficient in reading by race/ethnicity, 1992–2024
When looking at differences by gender, female students in 4th grade have had reading proficiency rates of 4 to 8 percentage points higher than male students in every test year since 1992. Among 8th and 12th graders, the trend was similar.
How does reading proficiency vary by state?
There was a 20 percentage point difference between Massachusetts, the state with the highest rate of 4th grade reading proficiency (40%), and New Mexico, which had the lowest (20%). For 8th grade, there was a 21 percentage point difference, also between Massachusetts and New Mexico.
The rate of reading proficiency has been higher for 4th graders compared to 8th graders for all 5 test years since 2015 at the national level. In 2024, this was also true for 37 states and Washington, DC. Nine states had the same rate of proficiency for 4th and 8th grade, and 4 states (Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, and South Dakota) had higher 8th grade proficiency than 4th.
Reading proficiency was higher among 4th graders than 8th graders in 37 states and Washington, DC in 2024.
Difference between the percentage of 4th and 8th graders who were proficient in reading in 2024, by highest to lowest 4th grade proficiency in each state
It should be noted that students in these grades may have had different educational experiences (due to influential events like the COVID-19 pandemic or major education policy shifts) that could affect these trends. For example, 2024’s 8th graders were in 4th and 5th grade during the main years of the COVID-19 pandemic (the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years), while 2024’s 4th graders were in kindergarten and 1st grade.
How does reading proficiency vary within school districts?
The NAEP collected data in a subset of the nation’s largest urban school districts (26 total) in 2024. San Diego Unified School District had the highest 4th grade reading proficiency at 39% of students. This was 7.8 times higher than the district with the lowest rate of proficiency, Detroit Public Schools, at 5%. Two of the 26 school districts were above the US average of 31%, 12 were not statistically different from the US, and 12 were below.
In 8th grade, San Diego Unified School District also had the highest proficiency, while Detroit Public Schools had the lowest.
New York City Public Schools, the largest school district in the US, was at the national average in 4th and 8th grade in 2024.
Among large urban school districts that participated in the NAEP, 12 had a 4th grade reading proficiency rate below the national average and 2 were above in 2024.
Percentage of 4th and 8th grade students in each district who were proficient in reading in 2024
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Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
Page sources
USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.
