Press Release
February 11, 2025
Contact: Sam Stockwell
samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu
617.495.0342
North Dakota Ranked 12th in Math Recovery and 33rd in Reading Between 2019 and 2024
Average student achievement in North Dakota remains about one third of a grade level below 2019 levels in math and about half of a grade level below in reading.
A rise in chronic absenteeism (students missing more than 10% of a school year) from 12% of students in 2019 before the pandemic to 20% in 2023 and 2024.
(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 North Dakota 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 North Dakota. Here’s what we found:
- North Dakota ranked 12th among states in terms of recovery in math and 33rd in reading between 2019 and 2024.
- Average student achievement in North Dakota remains about one third of a grade level below 2019 levels in math (.31 grade equivalents) and about half of a grade level below in reading (.55 grade equivalents). In other words, the loss in math achievement in North Dakota is equivalent to 31 percent of the progress students typically make annually between grades 4 through grade 8.
- Not a single district in North Dakota has recovered to 2019 levels in either math or reading. The average student in some districts, such as West Fargo and Dickinson, remains at least three quarters of a grade equivalent below their 2019 mean achievement in math.
- Still, there are bright spots: mean achievement for students in Mandan has nearly recovered to 2019 levels in reading. And some districts such as Bismark are nearly recovered in math.
- A rise in chronic absenteeism (students missing more than 10 percent of a school year) from 12 percent of students in 2019 before the pandemic to 20 percent in 2024 is slowing the recovery in many districts in North Dakota.
- North Dakota received $474 million in federal pandemic relief for K-12 schools—or roughly $4,200 per student (which is more than the national average of $3,700 per student.) Nationally, our analysis suggests that the dollars did contribute to the academic recovery, especially when targeted at academic catch-up efforts such as summer learning and tutoring.
The federal pandemic relief dollars may be gone, but the pandemic’s impact lingers in many North Dakota schools. Even without federal relief dollars, states could be targeting continuing federal Title I dollars and state dollars to implement interventions which have been shown effective, such as tutoring and summer learning. State leaders, mayors, employers and other community leaders should join schools to redouble efforts on 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