GREENSBORO, NC - The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was released earlier today and showed a national crisis in education that extends to nearly all large districts, including Guilford County Schools (GCS). Nationally, the pandemic has erased more than a decade of academic progress and every district in the country must focus on accelerating learning to ensure that students have the skills they need to compete. GCS students - while outperforming averages for large districts - saw a drop in reading and math scores.

“The pandemic has been the most disruptive singular force in education in a century, but the challenges we face are not solely the effect of a global health crisis. The disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed historical systemic gaps in our nation’s education systems and these data make clear that there is an urgent need to accelerate learning,” said Superintendent Dr. Whitney Oakley. “We have a stronger foundation to build upon in Guilford County than in many other large districts. Our students outperformed national large city averages across most demographics and our achievement gaps are lower than many of our peer districts. But that does not mean our local crisis is any less urgent. Student performance is down in our county and we need to embrace community-wide efforts to accelerate learning.”

Oakley was named superintendent earlier this year. She is a Guilford County native and attended Guilford County Schools from kindergarten through high school. Oakley continues to prioritize high-dosage tutoring, extending learning time and providing student access to grade-level content.

NAEP tests differ from end-of-grade (EOG) and end-of-course (EOC) tests given statewide. Students in grades four and eight are randomly selected for testing, either in reading or math. More than 400,000 students at approximately 5,000 schools were tested nationwide in January, February and March 2022, during the height of the Omicron COVID-19 outbreak. In Guilford County Schools, approximately 3,600 students participated in NAEP testing.

GCS, along with 25 other large city school districts, is a member of the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) partnership. This partnership allows GCS to test additional students and to view district-level NAEP results, which provides the district with actionable, accurate data on how students compare to others nationally. GCS continues to outperform the majority of TUDA districts across the country in math and reading and has lower achievement gaps between black and white students than most other TUDA districts.

GCS saw a drop in reading and math scores. However, GCS students scored higher than or on par with the majority of their large city peers. NAEP defines “large city” districts as urbanized areas with populations of more than 250,000.

Fourth Grade Math

The average score for fourth graders in GCS dropped seven points from 2019 to a score of 229, a decline similar to that of the large city average, which fell eight points to a score of 227. GCS students performed better than their peers in large city schools, higher than 13 other TUDA districts and similar to seven others.

Eighth Grade Math

The average score for eighth graders in GCS dropped 10 points from 2019 to a score of 270, a decline similar to that of the large city average, which fell eight points to a score of 266.

GCS students performed better than their peers in large city schools, higher than 16 other TUDA districts and only lower than one TUDA district. Additionally, in grade eight, both black students and students with disabilities averaged higher math scores than the nation, state and large cities.

Fourth Grade Reading

The average score for fourth graders in GCS dropped seven points from 2019 to a score of 211. The large city score fell three points to a score of 209. GCS students performed better than their peers in large city schools, higher than 12 other TUDA districts and similar to nine others. Also, in GCS grade four reading, black students outscored national, state and large city averages.

Eighth Grade Reading

The average score for eighth graders in GCS dropped six points from 2019 to a score of 252. The large city average score remains the same at 255. GCS students performed higher than nine other large TUDA districts, similar to nine TUDA districts and slightly lower than large city districts overall.

“Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Guilford County remained significantly higher or on par with other large city school districts across the country,” said Ray Hart, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools. “This illustrates that their investments in recovery from the pandemic are beginning to pay dividends.”

National results were released today at nationsreportcard.gov. GCS staff will facilitate a detailed NAEP results presentation for the Board of Education and members of the community at the Board’s Nov. 15 meeting. That meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the High Point City Council Chambers, 211 South Hamilton Street, High Point.