Now live: 2023-24 state assessment results

03 Dec Now live: 2023-24 state assessment results

By Dale Chu

With the election and Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror and the end of the year right around the corner, Assessment HQ enthusiasts can take heart in today’s release of 2023-24 state assessment scores for 41 states (and D.C.). With this update, Assessment HQ now features four years of post-pandemic results for most states and remains the only place to find a clear and comprehensive snapshot of statewide testing data.

Taken together, states have made modest academic gains, but are still far below pre-pandemic levels. Annual assessments continue to face strong headwinds, most recently (and vividly) demonstrated by Massachusetts’ about face on testing. Adding to the tumult, states like Oklahoma and Wisconsin recently lowered their cut scores—the threshold required for students to demonstrate proficiency—thus creating a false and inflated impression of student performance (See: honesty gap).

None of this should come as a surprise. Under the outgoing administration, the prevailing attitude towards testing was unserious at best, affording states the permission structure to follow suit. Among the most egregious, Maine continues to flout federal requirements by slow walking its results. Now that learning loss has proven to be semi-permanent, assessment skeptics want to hide the ball by downplaying and disposing of state testing altogether.

Back to the results, of the 41 states (and D.C.) that have released their data, ten are out of compliance with federal law vis-à-vis how scores are reported and thirteen are running afoul on participation rates (more below). Compliance under ESSA is a low bar, but the failure of some states to meet it underscores the precarious position state assessments continue to find themselves in. Consider the following shortcomings as outlined in today’s press release:

• Ten states have yet to release data that meets ESSA requirements in terms of how scores are reported.
  • Four states have yet to provide disaggregated data by student groups (Florida0, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma)
  • Six states have yet to provide data for more than one achievement level (Alaska, Delaware, Indiana[1], Utah1, Virginia, West Virginia)

• Thirteen states are not yet reporting comprehensive student participation rates (Arizona2, California2, Delaware, Florida2, Indiana2, Kentucky2, Louisiana2, Michigan2, Mississippi, Ohio2, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wisconsin2).

It’s not all gloom and doom, however. When it comes to the timely release of results, two laggards seem to be getting their respective houses in order:

• Alaska released its 2022-23 data in April 2024, making it the very last state to do so. This time around, the state published in August—an eight-month difference!

• Vermont released its 2022-23 data in February 2024. It released 2023-24 preliminary data at the end of September 2024—five months earlier! No small feat for a state known to drag its feet.

Looking ahead, 2024 NAEP results are expected to be released early next year. By then, Linda McMahon will have her hands on the tiller at the U.S. Department of Education. Will things be any different or will Uncle Sam continue to be asleep behind the assessment wheel? We’ll continue to keep watch on the latest developments and publish scores for the remaining states as soon as they’re made available.

0 Florida was also out of compliance last year on providing disaggregated data

[1] These two states were also out of compliance last year on achievement levels

2 These nine states were also out of compliance last year on participation rates