Press Release
February 11, 2025
Contact: Sam Stockwell
samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu
617.495.0342
Arizona ranked 41st among states in terms of the change in achievement in math and 35th in reading between 2019 and 2024.
Average student achievement in Arizona remains roughly 60 percent of a grade equivalent below 2019 levels in both reading and math.
Some districts, such as Mesa Unified, Sunnyside Unified, Cartwright Elementary, Kyrene Elementary and Glendale Elementary remain 80 percent or more of a grade equivalent behind.
(February 11, 2025) In its third year of reporting on the pace of academic recovery measures in districts nationwide, the Education Recovery Scorecard (a collaboration between the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University) is issuing its annual report on district-level student growth in math and reading.
The latest report also provides the first high resolution picture of where Arizona students’ academic recovery stood in Spring 2024, just before federal relief dollars expired in September. While the National Assessment of Educational Progress described changes in average achievement by state, we combine those scores with district scores on state assessments to describe the change in local communities throughout Arizona. Here’s what we found:
- Arizona ranked 41st among states in terms of the change in achievement in math and 35th in reading between 2019 and 2024.
- Average student achievement in Arizona remains roughly 60 percent of a grade equivalent below 2019 levels in both reading (.58 grade equivalents) and math (.66 grade equivalents). In other words, the loss in achievement in Arizona is equivalent to 60 percent of the progress students typically make annually between grades 4 through grade 8. Some districts, such as Mesa Unified, Sunnyside Unified, Cartwright Elementary, Kyrene Elementary and Glendale Elementary remain 80 percent or more of a grade equivalent behind.
- Yet some Arizona districts have recovered. 6 percent of students are enrolled in districts who are scoring above 2019 levels in math, 5 percent in reading and 1 percent in both subjects. Examples of districts which have recovered (or nearly recovered) in both reading and math include Dysart Unified, Gilbert Unified, Paradise Valley Unified, and Marana Unified.
- Arizona received $4.0 billion in federal pandemic relief for K-12 schools—or roughly $3,500 per student. Nationally, our analysis suggests that the dollars did contribute to the academic recovery, especially when it was targeted at academic catch-up efforts such as summer learning and tutoring.
The federal pandemic relief dollars may be gone now, but the pandemic’s impact lingers in many Arizona schools. Even without federal relief dollars, the state could be targeting continuing federal Title I dollars and state dollars to implement interventions which have been shown effective. State leaders, mayors, employers and other community leaders should join schools in tackling the shared challenge of reducing student absenteeism.
One of the project leaders, Professor Tom Kane from Harvard, said: “Unless state and local leaders step up now, the achievement losses will be the longest lasting– and most inequitable– legacy of the pandemic.”
For the national press release and findings click here.
About the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University
The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, seeks to transform education through quality research and evidence. CEPR and its partners believe all students will learn and thrive when education leaders make decisions using facts and findings, rather than untested assumptions. Learn more at cepr.harvard.edu.
Contact: Sam Stockwell, samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu, (617) 495-0342