Superintendent Arntzen Releases Montana’s “Nation’s Report Card” Scores

• Brian O'Leary
• October 24 2022

HELENA - The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), or “Nation’s Report Card,” was released today. NAEP measures math and reading knowledge for students in grades 4 and 8 through standardized testing in all 50 states plus Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Department of Defense Education Activity, a federal school system. This test was last administered in 2019 and was postponed in 2021 due to COVID-19. This year the test was administered between January and March 2022.

NAEP’s scale scores range from 0-500 for mathematics and reading for grades 4 and 8, with average scores ranging from 200-300. Montana had 230 schools participate and about 7,000 students.

For grades 4 and 8 in mathematics and reading, both Montana and National Public scores have been trending down, but Montana scores are above the National Public scores.

“As I have said before, a one-size-fits-all test does not accurately measure student knowledge,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “This is why I am focused on innovative solutions like the Montana Alternative Student Testing pilot program and math innovation zones. The consistent downward trend in assessment scores must be reversed and our student’s education must be put first.”

The NAEP and the Montana statewide summative assessment scores are two different tests. NAEP is administered to a smaller number of students in grades 4 and 8 every other year. The statewide assessment is administered to all Montana 3-8 grade students at the end of every year.

NAEP scores and the Montana summative assessment scores for grades 4 and 8 in both math and reading can be compared for students receiving a score of novice:

To learn more about NAEP results, you can visit the Nation’s Report Card.