Alabama students led the nation in maintaining math and reading learning during the pandemic, according to a new national analysis.

 

Alabama, which was just recently considered one of the worst states in the country for educational outcomes, might now be in a position to help the rest of the country assess options for improvement, according to research director Tom Kane, from Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research.

 

A district-level analysis included data from 3,700 school districts in 29 states and D.C.

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Among the top 10 highest-performing districts in math, seven were in Alabama. The numbers represent the difference in grade level that students in third through eighth grade in 2022 scored compared to third through eighth graders in 2019.

 

In the table below, students tested in Piedmont City Schools (Alabama) in 2022 had skills one and one-quarter grade levels higher than students who tested in 2019. In other words, Piedmont’s students completely avoided learning loss and instead gained more than a grade level of learning over students in 2019.

 

Of 3,700 school districts in 29 states and D.C., students in these 10 districts showed the highest learning gains on state tests from 2019 to 2022. Gains are expressed in grade levels.

 

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