In 2024, half of California's K-12 students met the state standard in English, while one in three were proficient in math. Post-pandemic learning recovery and longstanding disparities in proficiency rates remain key challenges for the state's public schools. This fact sheet discusses the numbers involved with these achievement gaps.

Raising attainment in mathematics is a key concern for both policymakers and education practitioners (Schmidt et al., 2022). However, addressing this problem has proved to be difficult, particularly in secondary mathematics. Over the past two decades, there has been a plethora of systematic reviews, meta-analyses and secondary reviews of aspects…

This Study Snapshot highlights key findings from a study that examined how attaining English proficiency and being reclassified as fluent English proficient affected achievement in English language arts and math in the first year after student reclassification in grades 3-8 in New Mexico. New Mexico established a state-level policy that requires…

The 35th edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's "KIDS COUNT"® Data Book examines the unprecedented declines in student math and reading proficiency brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on education. The latest data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress reveals that between 2019 and 2022, fourth-grade reading…

About one in five students in the US attends a rural school, and over half of all school districts are in rural areas. And yet very little is known about achievement, achievement gaps, and academic growth in rural schools, including how school-year and summer changes in achievement may differ in these schools. This lack of information is…

Although the percentage of high school students in advanced STEM courses has risen steadily in the past two decades throughout the United States, disparities persist across student subgroups, such as racial/ethnic groups (Aud et al., 2013; Laird, Alt, & Wu, 2009; Texas Education Agency, 2011). Racial/ethnic minority student enrollment in…

Mathematics anxiety is a pervasive issue in education that requires attention from both educators and researchers to help students reach their full academic potential. This review provides an overview of past research that has investigated the association between math anxiety and math achievement, factors that can cause math anxiety,…

The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) has synthesized key data on English learners (ELs) into two-page sheets on a variety of subjects. This fact sheet focuses on: (1) States Reporting American Indian/Alaska Native Languages as One of the Top Five Most Common English Learner Languages Spoken: School Year 2016-17; (2) Number of English…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), first administered in 1969, is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what the nation's students know and can do in various subjects such as civics, geography, mathematics, reading, science, U.S. history, and writing. The results of NAEP are released as The…

The objective of this review is to assess the effectiveness of interventions aimed at students with or at-risk of academic difficulties in grades 7 to 12 for increasing academic abilities and enhancing educational outcomes, as measured by standardised tests in reading and mathematics. The analysis will centre on the comparative effectiveness of…

The objective of this review is to assess the effectiveness of interventions aimed at students with or at-risk of academic difficulties in grades K to 6 for increasing academic abilities and enhancing educational outcomes, as measured by standardised tests in reading and mathematics. The analysis will centre on the comparative effectiveness of…

School closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have brought the issue of learning loss to the forefront in what has been called the "COVID slide." Data from the pandemic show a decline in student achievement in the areas of reading and mathematics for school districts that shifted to virtual learning platforms. However, it is…

This Study Snapshot highlights key findings where the Rhode Island Department of Education, the Rhode Island Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner, and state legislators sought evidence of the effects of state-funded programs for students to earn college credit during high school. Using data on the 2013/14 statewide grade 9 cohort, this…

This report examines the relationship between participation in the Afterschool Centers on Education (ACE) and student academic outcomes at the 16 Cycle 8 ACE campuses. Students' years of participation in ACE was positively associated with better student outcomes. Specifically, those with more years of ACE participation had better STAAR passing…

Given math's importance, states are adopting a range of K12 policies to improve math outcomes. As these and other policies unfold, policymakers need to monitor intended outcomes and ultimately gauge impact. They need answers to basic questions: Are more students taking and passing algebra and advanced math? Are performance gaps changing between…