The refrain has been broadcast widely: New York math achievement, as measured on a respected national test, is in the dumps. On the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 37% of New York 4th graders scored proficient relative to 39% overall for the nation.1 The situation was worse for 8th graders, with only 26% of students scoring at or above the proficiency cut-off, again below average for the nation.1 All other Northeastern states performed better. The highest performing state, Massachusetts, outperformed New York by 17 and 13 standard points, respectively, for the two grades sampled.1 Results were even more disappointing for students historically ranking below the 50th percentile for the test: those above recovered pandemic losses, while those below yielded worse scores than they did pre-pandemic. That is, disproportionality between the haves and have-nots continued to grow between 2022 and 2024. On the average, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Kentucky outperformed New York in 4th grade math, even before adjustments based on differences in student’s socioeconomic status.
A frustrating backdrop for these findings is that New York outspends all other states on education, with per pupil expenditures exceeding $36k annually.2Importantly, averages don’t tell the full story; some New York districts are financially stressed, as funding is uneven and comes from multiple sources.3 The cost of living in New York is high, and school funding supports more than math and literacy instruction, although these are obvious priorities. Nevertheless, the data suggests that funding isn’t the crux of the problem. An alternative explanation is that math instruction, on the average, is poor across the state, driven by New York State Department of Education (NYSED) state standards which do not align with empirical research.4 These invalid state standards drive the selection of poor curriculums and teaching methods, frustrating teachers and fueling a downward spiral.
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