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Indiana students fared slightly better on “the nation’s report card” in 2024 compared to 2022 as the state continues to slowly recover from the effects of the pandemic.

But across the state and nation, scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress — or NAEP — remain below 2019 levels, raising alarm bells about students’ reading and math skills after the pandemic. Nationally, there is also a growing gap between the highest- and lowest-performing students on NAEP.

Scores released Wednesday show Indiana students’ performance in both math and reading ticked up by between 1 and 3 percentage points in 2024.

In reading, around 34% of fourth graders and 33% of eighth graders were proficient or better in reading in 2024, up from 33% and 31%, respectively, in 2022.

In math, around 43% of fourth graders and 31% of eighth graders scored proficient or better in 2024, compared with 40% and 30%, respectively, in 2022.

Indiana’s performance across both subjects is in line with most other states, which saw no statistically significant score improvements compared to 2022. Nationally, reading scores have continued to drop in a trend that began before the pandemic in 2019. In math, some states made notable improvements, but Indiana was not among them.

Still, Indiana’s average scores remain above national averages. And while national averages have declined in reading, Indiana students’ scores rose this year.

Another difference between Indiana and national averages concerns the highest- and lowest-performing students. Indiana fourth graders in the bottom quartile of scores improved their performance over 2022. But nationally, fourth graders in the bottom quartile of reading scores declined the most from 2022.

However, the gap in eighth grade reading scores between Indiana’s lowest- and highest-performing students grew from 2022 to 2024.

Across demographic groups, one of the state’s most significant jumps in scores was for Black fourth grade students, whose reading scores rose from 194 in 2022 to 201 in 2024 — one point higher than their 2019 scores. Hispanic fourth grade students have also matched 2019 scores in reading for the demographic.

No other student group in Indiana matched its 2019 performance in either subject in 2024.

Nationwide, it was rare for any state to exceed its 2019 NAEP scores in either subject — just Alabama scored higher in fourth grade math, and only Louisiana scored higher in fourth grade reading.

“NAEP has reported declines in reading achievement consistently since 2019, and the continued declines since the pandemic suggest we’re facing complex challenges that cannot be fully explained by the impact of COVID-19,” said National Center for Education Statistics Associate Commissioner Daniel McGrath in a press release.

NAEP scores, learning affected by student absenteeism

NAEP scores don’t indicate the efficacy of any single policy or practice. But their release is likely to trigger debates about how states have responded to the academic effects of the pandemic.

Since 2022, Indiana has passed several laws aimed at aligning the state’s early literacy instruction with a set of practices known as the science of reading.

Schools and teacher training programs are now required to use material based on the science of reading. And beginning this year, students who don’t pass the the third grade reading test — the IREAD-3 — will be be required to repeat third grade, with only a few exceptions.

Now Indiana lawmakers may turn their attention to math. A bill under consideration in the 2025 legislative session would change teacher preparation programs in regards to math instruction, as well as require math proficiency screeners and interventions for younger students.

The state has also invested state and federal funds in tutoring and summer school programs, and will likely seek help from lawmakers writing the state budget to keep those initiatives funded after the expiration of federal aid.

Other initiatives from lawmakers include addressing student absenteeism, which has declined nationally since 2022 but remains higher than in 2019. In a media call Tuesday, Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics Peggy Carr pointed to absenteeism as a factor in students’ scores.

“If students aren’t in school, they can’t learn,” Carr said.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.