Missouri’s 2022 NAEP Scores: Decades of Achievement Gains Erased, Unprecedented Achievement Gaps

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) recently released the 2022 NAEP results. This no-stakes assessment measures the national and individual state performance of 4th and 8th grade students in reading and math. NAEP is administered to a representative sample of students from each state, allowing it to serve as a standard measure of student performance across states and time. This policy brief examines Missouri’s 2022 NAEP results, which are the first look into NAEP performance after the pandemic. We focus on Missouri’s performance changes over time, gaps between student groups, and comparison to national trends. We find:

• Missouri’s student performance on NAEP 4th and 8th grade math and reading assessments saw unprecedented declines from 2019 to 2022; 2022 scores are the lowest in decades.

  • Missouri’s 4th grade NAEP math and reading scores lag behind border states.

  • Missouri's 8th grade NAEP score declines in math and reading mirror national trends.

• Missouri has fewer NAEP Proficient or Advanced students than in prior years and lags behind the majority of other states and the national average.

  • Approximately two of five Missouri students are Below Basic in 4th Grade Reading and 8th Grade Math.

  • Slightly less than one in four (24%) Missouri’s 8th graders achieved proficient or advanced on the NAEP math assessment.

• Missouri’s achievement gaps, by race and family socioeconomic status, widened during the pandemic with most reaching unprecedented score gaps.