Newly Released ND School Test Scores Show Significant Drop

(Bismarck, ND) -- Newly released North Dakota school test scores are showing a significant drop.  

The Department of Public Instruction released the first data that shows the actual impact of COVID-19-related disruption on student learning. The scores on the state assessment show a historic decline.

During the 2021 spring tests, the percentage of all students who scored as “proficient” or “advanced” in English/Language Arts was 42 percent, a 5 percent decline in English language proficiency from the 47 percent recorded during pre-pandemic testing in the spring of 2019.

In mathematics, the percentage of students who registered “proficient” or “advanced” scores in the spring of 2021 was 38 percent, which was 7 percent less than the 45 percent proficiency recorded in the spring of 2019. The North Dakota State Assessment was not given in the spring of 2020 because of school disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This decline is significant, and it presents a challenge to all of us as educators in North Dakota,” said North Dakota State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said. “Fortunately, our schools have been provided unprecedented resources to use in reversing these trends. We have experienced significant loss, and we now are presented with an opportunity to make a significant comeback.”

You can find out more information about the entire impact of the virus on North Dakota education by clicking here.