Maine
Maine students score lowest in three decades on nation’s report card
Maine students in 2024 had the lowest test scores in three decades in both reading and math, according to data from the nation’s report card
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, pronounced nape), which is administered by the U.S. Department of Education, released national and state-by-state results Wednesday.
The test is administered every two years to a representative sample of fourth and eighth graders, and reading and math scores are reported on a scale of 0-500.
The most recent test results paint a grim picture of academic performance for Maine students. In three of four testing categories, Maine students had the lowest average scores since 1992, when NAEP results were first reported. In 2022, Maine was the only state to have record lows in all four testing categories, and according to 2024 data, scores have only gotten worse.
Fourth grade students had the lowest average reading score since 1992, and the lowest score in math since 1996. Eighth grade students had the lowest scores ever in both reading and math.
That also means 10 percent fewer students statewide tested at or above grade level in both math and reading compared to pre-pandemic NAEP scores.
“The fact that scores have been declining for a while is a concern,” said Amy Johnson, co-director of the Maine Policy Education Research Institute. “This is not just a one-time blip. National scores have also been declining, but Maine averages have fallen faster and are now below the national average in several areas. Fourth grade scores are particularly bleak.”
As Johnson said, low scores seem to be a nationwide trend. Students are still underperforming in all grade levels compared to pre-pandemic scores.
All students who took the NAEP tests last year had their education disrupted to some degree by the COVID-19 pandemic. The fourth graders were in kindergarten when schools shut down, and the eighth graders were in fourth grade.
Maine scores saw large declines in 2022, and in 2024, those declines either held steady or got worse, making it one of 14 states where students are performing significantly below the national average.
NAEP scores test a representative sample of students from across the state, which in Maine amounted to approximately 1,700 students in 2022, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
How to interpret NAEP results
One reason for the consistently declining scores might be that Maine’s standards are drifting away from what’s being tested on NAEP, and so part of what is being captured is a difference in what Maine thinks is important compared to the NAEP test content, Johnson said.
In a recent meeting of the Maine Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee, members questioned the Maine Department of Education on its minimum standards. School districts can go beyond what the state requires, but since Maine prioritizes local control, the state does not keep track of local education requirements.
Looking at Maine’s state level test results, about two-thirds of Maine students (65 percent) were considered “at or above expectations” in reading, which paints a different picture than NAEP, Johnson said.
NAEP offers a high-level snapshot of student performance, which can’t offer a school-level or even district-level perspective on performance. State assessments might be more relevant to educators in gauging performance, but Maine’s state assessment results are not broken down by grade level and assessments have changed every few years, making it difficult to track long-term learning trends.
Results by grade and subject level:
Fourth grade math
In 2024, the average score among Maine fourth graders for math was 233, below the national average of 237. Last year, just a third of students tested at grade level (which according to NAEP is calculated as the percentage of students in the “at or above proficient” category), compared to the national average of 39 percent of students who tested at grade level.
In comparison, about 42 percent of fourth grade Mainers tested at grade level in math in 2019, the last recorded pre-pandemic test year.
Fourth grade reading
The average reading score for fourth graders nationwide was 214 on a scale of 0-500, and just 210 for Maine students.
That means only 26 percent of students were reading at grade level in the state, which is a significant drop since 2019, when 36 percent of students tested at or above grade level.
Before 2019, Maine students consistently tested better than the national average in reading. consistently.
Eighth grade math
This was the only category where Maine students did not perform significantly worse than the national average. Maine’s eighth grade math score was 273 compared to the national average of 272.
About 25 percent of students performed at grade level in 2024, representing the only improvement in scores from 2022, when 24 percent of students were at grade level.
However, pre-pandemic, the state’s math scores were consistently higher than the national average by several points. For example, in 2000, Maine’s average score was 281, 10 points above the national average at the time.
Eighth grade reading
The average reading score for eighth graders nationwide last year was 257 on a scale of 0-500, and 255 for Maine students.
That means only 26 percent of students in the state were reading at grade level, which is a significant drop since 2019, when 36 percent of students tested at or above grade level.
Every year until 2019, Maine students consistently tested above the national average in reading — a likely indication of pandemic-era learning loss.
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This story will be updated.
The Maine Department of Transportation is moving to slash up to $400 million in projects from its agenda, a shocking and abrupt cutback that is rattling the state’s construction industry at the start of building season.
Roughly $50 million across six pavement projects have already been delayed, according to a memo exclusively obtained by the Bangor Daily News. The agency plans to cut or delay another $150 million in bridge, highway, intersection and multimodal projects later this month. A further $200 million or more in cuts are planned in the next three-year work plan.
Those figures were outlined by Transportation Commissioner Dale Doughty in the May 18 memo to Gov. Janet Mills that has since circulated widely in the transportation sector, which has been getting drip-by-drip details on the wide scope of the cuts over the past three weeks.
It comes at the beginning of the state’s relatively narrow construction season. Companies have hired workers and ordered materials for projects they expected to begin this summer. The severity of the transportation budget problems was not raised to lawmakers during the 2026 legislative session.
Kelly Flagg, executive director of the Associated General Contractors of Maine, called the shortfall “deeply troubling” in a statement.
“We stand ready to work with policymakers, stakeholders, and industry partners to identify both immediate and long-term solutions,” Flagg said. “Maine cannot afford to fall further behind.”
Insiders saw this first.
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The cuts stem from a structural funding gap of at least $130 million in the state’s current work plan, according to Doughty’s memo. Losses are magnified because state money from the gas tax and other revenue sources is matched by federal funds. Lawmakers have long grappled with politically difficult long-term problems with the state’s transportation budget.
A Mills spokesperson said Wednesday morning that the administration was working on a response to questions from the BDN. The department says it needs roughly $240 million more in state capital funding annually to maintain the existing system, and that anything less than $200 million will erode it over time.
Doughty’s memo the only near-term solution is a series of bonds beginning as soon as possible. Lawmakers would have to return to Augusta to authorize that if one is going to appear on the November ballot.
The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Michael Capeci is the former chairman of the Bangor GOP.
Let’s be honest about Maine’s current state.
For many families, the cost of living has become unsustainable. Housing is out of reach for many young people. Energy bills keep rising. Many small businesses are struggling under taxes and regulations that make it harder to grow. Rural hospitals are under strain and despite years of increased state spending, the results are not showing up in people’s daily lives.
Concurrently, Maine continues to lose young workers to other states. That is not a statistic, it is a warning sign.
To me, the question in this Republican primary for governor is not about slogans. It is whether we continue with a political approach that has failed to reverse these trends, or whether we nominate someone with new ideas. I think that someone is Owen McCarthy.
Owen is not a political insider. He is an entrepreneur from Patten, a small town where opportunity is not assumed, it is built. He grew up in a working-class family, became the first in his family to graduate from college graduating from the University of Maine, and founded MedRhythms, a healthcare technology company focused on neurological treatment.
He didn’t just talk about opportunity. He built it. That distinction matters, because Maine’s problem is not a lack of debate it is a lack of results. We have seen the trajectory: higher costs, slower growth, and a steady outmigration of young workers. I believe Owen McCarthy represents a break from that pattern.
His Maine 2040 plan focuses on creating 50,000 new jobs in sectors where Maine has real advantages — maritime and defense, advanced forest products, and life sciences. These are export-driven industries tied directly to Maine’s workforce, geography, and institutions. What sets Owen apart is not only what he proposes, but how he approaches governing.
He prioritizes modernizing permitting so projects do not stall. He supports using technology to reduce costs and increase efficiency. He focuses on making it easier to build, hire, and expand in Maine.
That same practical mindset extends to healthcare. Expanding telehealth, strengthening EMS systems, improving provider flexibility, and shifting toward earlier intervention are not abstract reforms. They are system upgrades designed to improve access while controlling costs.
Maine voters consistently respond to competence. They reward candidates who understand problems and present plans to solve them. I believe they are tired of rhetoric that does not translate into results, and skeptical of politics that prioritizes messaging over execution.
Owen’s approach is grounded in solving the issues that shape daily life — affordability, healthcare access, job creation, and government efficiency. That is not just policy positioning. It is a governing model that speaks directly to voters.
Some will point to his lack of political experience. But I believe Maine’s core problems are not the result of insufficient political experience; they are the result of policies that have failed to deliver measurable improvement. Experience inside a broken system, by itself, is not a solution.
If Republicans want to win, this primary must be taken seriously. From my perspective, it is not about choosing a nominee for governor who can energize the base. It is about selecting someone who can compete in a broader electorate that is frustrated and looking for change.
That requires a candidate who can speak beyond the base, not by abandoning principles, but by demonstrating competence and a credible plan to address Maine’s challenges. I believe Owen McCarthy offers that combination. He represents a shift away from managed decline and toward economic execution.
This is not just another primary. It is a decision about whether Republicans position themselves to win Maine or whether they remain trapped in a cycle of repeating the same strategies and expecting different outcomes.
If Republicans want to compete for Maine’s future, they cannot afford to nominate a candidate who only motivates part of the electorate. They need someone who expands it.
I believe Owen McCarthy is that candidate.
And if the goal is to win Maine, then the choice should be unmistakable
The only notable change in the top-seven of the Varsity Maine baseball poll is that Gorham now has eight first-place votes, two more than last week. The order of the seven teams is identical. In fact, the only change in the top-seven over the past three polls is the swap at the top after Gorham’s win over South Portland on May 19.
Furthermore, Gorham, South Portland, Oxford Hills, Cheverus, Bangor, Mt. Ararat and Fryeburg have been ranked in the top seven for four straight weeks, and six of those squads have been among the top seven in every poll this spring.
Meanwhile, Scarborough is ranked for the first time since May 5, and Ellsworth and Thornton swapped spots.
The Varsity Maine baseball poll is based on games played before June 2, 2026. The top 10 teams are voted on by the Varsity Maine staff, with first-place votes in parentheses, followed by total points.
1. Gorham (8) 89
2. South Portland 79
3. Oxford Hills (1) 75
4. Cheverus 55
5. Bangor 42
6. Mt. Ararat 41
7. Fryeburg Academy 30
8. Ellsworth 27
9. Thornton Academy 25
10. Scarborough 12
Also receiving votes: Washington Academy 8, Monmouth Academy 4, Cony 4, Leavitt 2, Falmouth 2.
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