Illinois students remain at or above national average

[February 01, 2025]  By Peter Hancock

SPRINGFIELD – Fourth and eighth grade students in Illinois generally scored as well or better than the national average in reading and math, according to results of the latest round of national test results. But their scores remain below pre-pandemic levels and, in the case of reading, continue to decline steadily.

The results also showed significant achievement gaps in Illinois between racial and ethnic groups, especially between white and Black students, which were among the widest achievement gaps in the country.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, often referred to as the Nation’s Report Card, is a set of standardized tests administered every two years to a representative sample of fourth and eighth students nationwide. The program is mandated by federal law and is managed by the National Center for Education Statistics, within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences.

Because the tests are administered uniformly nationwide, it allows for accurate comparisons between states and over time. However, because it is administered to only a sample of students, the results are subject to a margin of error and so minor differences between one set of scores and another are sometimes not statistically significant. In Illinois, the 2024 tests involved approximately 150 schools and 2,700 – 2,800 students per subject for each grade.

Eighth grade

Results of testing done in 2024, which were released Tuesday, showed that among eighth grade students in Illinois, the average math score rose two points, to 277 out of 500, compared to 2022. That was five points higher than the national average, which was down one point from the 2022 exam.

But both the state and national averages were lower than they were before the pandemic in 2019, The averages were also below their peak more than a decade earlier, in 2013, when the average score in Illinois was 285, one point above the national average at that time.

Illinois also saw an increase in the percentage of students scoring in the top two achievement categories in math, “advanced” and “proficient.”

Nearly one-third of those tested in 2024, 32%, scored at or above the “proficient” level in math. That’s the level at which an eighth grader can solve Pythagorean theorem problems and solve problems involving capacity, area and weight, according to NAEP officials. That was 5 percentage points higher than in 2022 and 5 points higher than the national average.

The percentage of Illinois eighth graders scoring at or above the “advanced” level also rose to 11%. That’s the level at which a student can perform tasks such as analyzing and critiquing “graphical displays to justify appropriateness and solve problems,” according to test officials.

Eighth grade math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in Illinois rose slightly in 2024 and outperformed the national average. (Source: Nationsreportcard.gov)

The average Illinois eighth grade reading score, meanwhile, stood at 262, unchanged from two years earlier, and slightly above the national average of 257.

In a statement, Gov. JB Pritzker said those scores for eighth graders were cause for celebration.

“Illinois students are proving what we’ve always known – that when we support our schools, our kids thrive,” he said. “The 2024 Nation’s Report Card shows our 8th graders outperforming the national average in both math and reading, a testament to the great strides Illinois students are making academically.”

Fourth grade

There was less cause for celebration, though, in results of the fourth grade exams where average reading scores dropped, both in Illinois and nationally, to 214.

That was a four-point drop over two years in the average Illinois score and a two-point drop in the national average.

Further, both the state and national averages have been on a steady, continuous decline since 2015, when the Illinois average was 222, one point higher than the national average.

According to the National Assessment Governing Board – which oversees the assessment – no state saw gains in NAEP reading scores in either fourth or eighth grade.

There was no change in the average fourth grade math score in Illinois, which stood at 237. Only 30% of those taking the test scored at or above the “proficient” level, down 3 percentage points from two years earlier.

Achievement gaps

The 2024 results also showed significant achievement gaps among different subgroups of students in Illinois.

In fourth grade math, for example, there was a 32-point gap between the average score for white and Black students – 248 for white students versus 214 for Black students. Only Wisconsin and Washington, D.C., had statistically significant wider gaps.

Eighth grade math assessments had a similar 32-point gap between the average score for white students, 286, and Black students, 254. Only three other states and Washington, D.C., had statistically significant wider gaps.

The gap between white and Hispanic students, at 23 points, was slightly smaller but still significant. Only five other states and Washington, D.C., had statistically significant wider gaps.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.