Early Learning Statistics: Reading and Math From Kindergarten to Grade 4

Key findings (quotable)

1. In 2024, 39% of U.S. fourth-graders scored at or above NAEP Proficient in math, 3 percentage points higher than in 2022. (NAEP Mathematics, 2024 (opens in a new tab))
2. In 2024, 76% of fourth-graders scored at or above NAEP Basic in math, and 24% scored below NAEP Basic. (NAEP Mathematics, 2024 (opens in a new tab); NAEP, 2024 (opens in a new tab))
3. In 2024, 31% of fourth-graders scored at or above NAEP Proficient in reading, 2 percentage points lower than in 2022. (NAEP Reading, 2024 (opens in a new tab))
4. In 2024, 40% of fourth-graders scored below NAEP Basic in reading. (NAEP Reading, 2024 (opens in a new tab))
5. Fourth-graders at the 10th and 25th percentiles scored lower in reading in 2024 than in 1992. (NAEP Reading, 2024 (opens in a new tab))
6. In 2024, grade 4 math scores for lower-performing students (10th and 25th percentiles) were not significantly different from 2022, while scores rose 2 points at the 50th percentile, 3 at the 75th and 2 at the 90th. (NAEP Mathematics, 2024 (opens in a new tab))
7. Among U.S. kindergartners in 2010–11, the average math score rose from 29.3 in the fall to 42.0 in the spring. Actual scores ranged from 5 to 75. (NCES Digest 2012, Table 137 (opens in a new tab))
8. In fall 2010, first-time kindergartners whose parents had any graduate education averaged 35.7 in math, compared with 21.0 for those whose parents had not completed high school. On a scale where actual scores ranged from 5 to 75, that is a 14.7-point difference at kindergarten entry. (NCES Digest 2012, Table 135 (opens in a new tab))
9. In the same cohort, the average reading score rose from 47.2 in fall of kindergarten to 96.3 by spring of second grade, on a rescaled assessment with possible scores of 0 to 120. (NCES Digest 2015, Table 220.60 (opens in a new tab))

Grade 4 math: national trend and achievement levels (2024)

The 2024 grade 4 math average was 2 points higher than in 2022 and 24 points higher than in 1990, the first assessment year. Compared with 1990, scores were higher at every selected percentile (NAEP Mathematics, 2024 (opens in a new tab)). The share of students at or above Proficient was still 2 percentage points below 2019 (NAEP, 2024 (opens in a new tab)).

The 2024 grade 4 math assessment included about 117,900 students in 6,100 schools (NAEP, 2024 (opens in a new tab)). Math fact fluency is one building block of the "number properties and operations" content NAEP tests. Glow's Math Facts practice is built for that early stage.

Grade 4 reading: national trend and achievement levels (2024)

The 2024 grade 4 reading average was 2 points lower than in 2022 and 5 points lower than in 2019, and not significantly different from 1992 (NAEP Reading, 2024 (opens in a new tab)). Fourth-graders in public schools averaged 214 on the 0–500 scale in 2024, down from 216 in 2022 (NAEP 2024 Reading Snapshot Report, Nation (public) (opens in a new tab)). Compared with 2022, scores fell at every selected percentile except the 90th (NAEP, 2024 (opens in a new tab)).

The 2024 reading sample included about 117,400 fourth-graders in 6,100 schools (NAEP, 2024 (opens in a new tab)). Sight-word recognition is part of how young readers build fluency alongside phonics. Glow's Sight Words practice works on that skill.

Where skills start to diverge: kindergarten entry (ECLS-K:2011)

ECLS-K:2011 followed a nationally representative sample of about 18,200 children in 970 schools, starting in the 2010–11 school year, and represented about 3.5 million first-time kindergartners (NCES 2012-049 (opens in a new tab)). These children are now in high school, so treat the figures as a baseline picture rather than current conditions.

Growth during kindergarten (Table 137 (opens in a new tab)), all kindergartners in 2010–11

• Reading: 34.8 in fall to 49.4 in spring (actual scores ranged from 6 to 83).
• Math: 29.3 in fall to 42.0 in spring (actual scores ranged from 5 to 75).

Differences at entry (Table 135 (opens in a new tab)), first-time kindergartners in fall 2010

Kindergarten to grade 2 (Table 220.60 (opens in a new tab)), same cohort, rescaled assessment (reading possible 0–120, math possible 0–113)

Table 220.60 uses a later rescaling than Tables 135 and 137, so don't compare scores across these tables. ECLS-K scales also can't be compared with NAEP scales.

Gaps in grade 4 reading (2022, latest NCES indicator)

In 2022, grade 4 average reading scores were 237 in low-poverty schools vs. 211 in high-poverty schools (a 25-point gap), 190 for English learners vs. 222 for non-EL students, and 183 for students with disabilities vs. 223 for peers without. The gap between the 90th and 10th percentiles was 104 points, up from 98 in 2019 and 91 in 1992 (NCES Condition of Education, Reading Performance (opens in a new tab)).

Preschool enrollment (2022)

In 2022, 47% of 3- and 4-year-olds and 84% of 5-year-olds were enrolled in school, up from 40% and 79% in 2021 but still below 2019 levels. Overall, 59% of 3- to 5-year-olds were enrolled (NCES Condition of Education, Enrollment Rates by Age (opens in a new tab)).

How Glow approaches early learning

Glow makes reading and math practice for Pre-K through Grade 3, with an adult choosing next steps. Its method, M.I.R.E.R. (Monitor, Inform, Reinforce, Evaluate, Reward), is research-informed: it draws on established principles of assessment and feedback. It hasn't been studied for effects on outcomes like those above, and this page makes no such claim. Read the design rationale on Glow's research page.

Method, sample and date

• Data sources: NAEP 2024 Mathematics and Reading, grade 4 (nationsreportcard.gov, released January 2025). NAEP 2024 Reading State Snapshot (Nation, public). NCES Condition of Education: Reading Performance (updated May 2023) and Enrollment Rates by Age (updated May 2024). NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2012, Tables 135 and 137, and Digest 2015, Table 220.60 (ECLS-K:2011). NCES 2012-049, First-Time Kindergartners in 2010–11.
• Population and sample: NAEP covers nationally representative samples of grade 4 public and private school students, January to March 2024: about 117,900 students in 6,100 schools for math and about 117,400 in 6,100 for reading. ECLS-K:2011 sampled about 18,200 kindergartners in 970 schools in 2010–11.
• What we did: quoted published estimates only. No re-analysis, and no combining of scales across studies (ECLS-K and NAEP scales aren't comparable). Each figure was checked against its linked official page on October 31, 2026. Figures are shown as published (rounded).
• Caveats: NAEP achievement levels are trial-status and not grade-level standards. ECLS-K:2011 data are from 2010–13, for a cohort now in high school. NCES cautions readers "not to draw causal inferences" from the ECLS-K results (NCES 2012-049 (opens in a new tab)). Everything here is descriptive, not causal. The NCES reading-gap indicator reflects 2022 data.
• Published / last updated: October 31, 2026 · Author: Glow Education · Contact: hello@learnwithglow.com
• Disclosure: Glow makes Pre-K–Grade 3 practice apps. This page uses no Glow data.
• License: underlying data is U.S. federal public domain. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).