“The good news is that NAEP scores have risen dramatically in mathematics over the past decade,” noted Tom Loveless, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy. NAEP test scores indicate today’s ...

(“Achieve Planning New Math Test for 8th Grade,” Feb. 3, 1999.) The project expanded, however, after reviews found that the content of state tests was less rigorous than that of assessments ...

Math scores had been on the rise for three years before declining in 2017. Across the state, about 24 percent of 8 th graders who took the test scored at proficient levels the year before.

But at least one statistic seemed especially disquieting: Some 4,600 students retaking the state’s 8th grade math exam had failed yet again. This was their third chance at the test in a year.