BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Education funding is a contentious and expensive issue in Vermont. Test results show how those investments are paying off.
National testing shows Vermont student performance is still in a decades-long decline.
That’s according to the National Assessment of Education Progress, which just released its 2024 performance results.
Every two years they test fourth and eighth graders’ proficiency in math and reading.
Vermont reading scores in both grades were significantly lower than pre- and post-pandemic numbers. But Vermont’s reading numbers are close to the national average which has also declined since the last report in 2022.
In math, the average score in Vermont did not change from 2022. Last year the state’s fourth grader test results were lower than the national average, but eighth graders were higher than the national average.
Balancing student performance and the price of education will be a main focus in the statehouse this year.