Student math and reading scores declined in 47 states between 2019 and 2024, making education the worst-performing domain in the nation’s most comprehensive annual child well-being index.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s introduced a new scoring system this year that goes beyond state rankings, assigning each state a score from 0 to 1,000 across four domains. The education domain received the lowest national score of all four domains (economic well-being, education, health and family and community), falling from 518 in 2019 to 417 in 2024.
The researchers compiled the data from federal statistical agencies, state-level grantees and specialized research institutions.
Three of the four education indicators moved in the wrong direction: fourth-grade reading proficiency, eighth-grade math proficiency and preschool attendance. The share of fourth graders scoring below proficient in reading climbed from 66% to 70%, while the share of eighth graders falling short in math rose from 67% to 73%. Preschool non-attendance also worsened, with 54% of children ages 3 and 4 not enrolled in school, up from 52%.
Nearly all states47 of 50posted lower education scores in 2024 than in 2019, with the steepest declines recorded in North Dakota, Maine, Delaware, Iowa and Oklahoma. Only two states made measurable gains in the Education domain: Louisiana and Mississippi. South Carolina was the one state that held steady.
Mississippi’s progress stands out given its overall ranking. The state ranks 50th in overall child well-being but 16th in education, a result attributed to the Literacy-Based Promotion Act. The law focuses on reading proficiency by third grade, along with sustained investment in public schools, teacher training in reading and a stronger early childhood education infrastructure.
High school graduation was the one bright spot in the education domain: the share of students not graduating on time dropped from 14% to 13% between the 201819 and 202324 school years. That single gain, however, could not offset the scale of academic loss across the other three indicators.
Roughly 1.2 million teens are currently disconnected from both school and work, a figure the report flags as a persistent challenge in its economic well-being domain with direct implications for school re-engagement efforts.
The report’s new scoring methodology is designed to show leaders whether outcomes are actually improving in their states, regardless of national rank. A state’s score can rise even if its rank stays the same, making the measure a more useful tool for tracking the impact of local policies and investment.
Read the report .
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