Academic Achievement

Read more about how students are performing academically
Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at a press conference at FHP Troop D Headquarters on International Drive in Orlando on Aug. 1, 2025. During the press conference, DeSantis addressed law enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol's efforts and responsibility to apprehend illegal immigrants in the state.
Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a press conference at FHP Troop D Headquarters in Orlando on Aug. 1, 2025, where he discussed law enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol’s role in apprehending undocumented immigrants in the state. A new study links increased immigration enforcement in Florida to declines in student test scores.
Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel via TNS
Student Achievement When ICE Arrests Rise, Student Test Scores Fall, New Study Suggests
The working paper focused on a Florida district where both foreign-born and U.S. born students saw test scores drop.
Ileana Najarro, November 13, 2025
4 min read
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How Arizona’s Largest District Improved Literacy for Thousands of Special Education Students
Mesa Public Schools, Arizona’s largest district, dramatically improved literacy outcomes for thousands of special education students thro...
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Illustration of people climbing stacks of books. There are 3 stacks of books at different heights with people helping people climb up.
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Student Well-Being & Movement Social-Emotional Learning Linked to Higher Math and Reading Test Scores
A Yale study finds that explicitly teaching students SEL skills can have big academic payoffs.
Arianna Prothero, October 21, 2025
5 min read
Third-grader Fallon Rawlinson reads a book at Good Springs Elementary School in Good Springs, Nev., on March 30, 2022. For decades, there has been a clash between two schools of thought on how to best teach children to read, with passionate backers on each side of the so-called reading wars. But the approach gaining momentum lately in American classrooms is the so-called science of reading.
Third-grader Fallon Rawlinson reads a book at Good Springs Elementary School in Good Springs, Nev., on March 30, 2022. Reading scores remain flat after the pandemic, even as scores grow in math—a subject in which performance was initially more affected.
Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP
Student Achievement Mounting Evidence Shows National Reading Scores Stuck at Historic Lows
Math performance has risen, but reading remains at pandemic-era levels, a new analysis shows.
Sarah Schwartz, October 14, 2025
3 min read
Volusia County School District Staff
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Supercharged by STEM Learning: How FIRST® Robotics Boosted Volusia County Students’ State Exam Scores by 50%
Hands-on STEM programming developed by the global, youth-serving nonprofit, FIRST, is proven to improve test scores, build self-confidence, and prepare student participants for real-world success.
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Middle school students learn about the value and shape of matter while building containers to hold liquid during an 8th grade science class at Boys’ Latin School of Maryland on Oct. 24, 2024 in Baltimore, Md.
Eighth graders learn about the value and shape of matter while building containers to hold liquid during a science class at Boys’ Latin School of Maryland on Oct. 24, 2024, in Baltimore. Nationally, 8th graders lost ground in science, according to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Jaclyn Borowski/Education Week
Science What's Behind the Drop in Students' Science Scores on NAEP?
Survey results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress show 8th graders do less scientific inquiry now than five years ago.
Sarah Schwartz, September 10, 2025
4 min read
A stylized, faceless student has a smooth, open head with a glowing smartphone rising from it, symbolizing the smart phone and social media's impact on NAEP scores.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty Images
Standards & Accountability Opinion Student Test Scores Keep Falling. What’s Really to Blame?
There’s strong circumstantial evidence pointing to a particular culprit. (Hint: It’s not the pandemic.)
Martin R. West, September 9, 2025
5 min read
conceptual illustration of a figure coming to a crossroads
Frances Coch/iStock/Getty
Student Achievement Struggling High School Seniors Fall Even Further Behind on 'Nation's Report Card'
More 12th graders than ever before are scoring below the test's threshold for mastery of “basic” skills.
Sarah Schwartz, September 9, 2025
7 min read
Image of the concept of domino effect.
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Student Achievement Five Years Later, Student Achievement Still Lags Behind Pre-Pandemic Levels
Five years after COVID, student achievement remains below pre-pandemic levels, with slow reading gains and persistent math gaps.
Jennifer Igbonoba, August 19, 2025
3 min read
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math
July 17, 2025
Nashville DD BS THUMB
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Student Achievement Video One District’s Secret to Boosting Reading and Math Scores
For Metro Nashville Public Schools, high dosage tutoring implemented by staff and volunteers led to marked improvements in reading and math.
Kaylee Domzalski, July 16, 2025
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Photograph of a young Caucasian female teacher showing right way of connecting wires to robot prototype while a diverse group of curious middle school students watch her carefully
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Student Achievement Teens Are Confident They Can Succeed in Class. Do Teachers Agree?
Survey examines student confidence in STEM and English/language arts classes.
Arianna Prothero, June 10, 2025
3 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Opinion Boys Are Struggling in School. What Can Be Done?
Girls outpace boys at nearly every level of academic achievement. Author Richard Reeves shares his thoughts.
Rick Hess, May 20, 2025
6 min read
Illustration of a tutor helping a student understand a subject.
iStock/Getty + Education Week
Student Achievement Opinion High-Dosage Tutoring Should Be Here to Stay
Research is piling up on the effectiveness of the academic intervention, including when it is scaled up.
Alan Safran & Susanna Loeb, May 14, 2025
4 min read