BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's fourth- and eighth-grade students saw historic growth in their reading and math scores, the newest edition of the National Assessment of Educational Progress' report card released Wednesday showed. 

According to the assessment presented by Gov. Jeff Landry and State Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley at a Baton Rouge news conference, the state's students' growth increased 11 spots on The Nation's Report Card. In 2024, the overall ranking was 32nd, up from 43rd in 2022. 

Individual metrics also increased dramatically, with fourth-grade reading seeing the most drastic rise in improvement ranking at 16th in 2024 compared to 42nd in 2022. According to the report card, this is the second year the state's fourth-graders led the nation in reading growth.

Louisiana's fourth-grade math scores improved, with the ranking rising six spots to 38th. State eighth-grade reading and math scores improved as well, with the reading ranking improving 10 spots to 29th, and the math ranking improving two spots to 43rd. 

Louisiana students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students outperformed the national average in both achievement and growth, the report card noted.

Brumley said that the assessment "affirms that smart and hard work can make a difference," citing the commitment of his employees at the state education department, as well as teachers. Landry said teachers will see pay raises if a constitutional amendment is passed in March. 

"The work in the educational system in the state of Louisiana is not done... We can recognize progress but also realize there is a new way forward," Brumley said. "We're writing a new story."

Both Landry and Brumley said the National Assessment of Education Progress is widely regarded as the "gold standard" of assessments for schools across the nation to show how their students have improved in math and reading.

"We may finally put to bed the soft bigotry of low expectations in the state of Louisiana for our students," Brumley said, noting that he wants to continue to curb chronic absenteeism in the state. 

The news conference was held at Magnolia Woods Elementary School.