Fourth and eighth graders enrolled in a Georgia or Atlanta public charter school outperformed their traditional peers on the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in math and reading. The results were especially striking for Black charter school students who scored significantly above Black traditional students across the state and in the city of Atlanta.
According to a Georgia Charter Schools Association analysis of NAEP data, Georgia’s charter fourth-grade students surpassed traditional students’ scores by an average of 8 points in math and 14 points in reading. The state’s charter eighth graders received a math score that was 4 points above traditional students and a reading score that was 8 points higher.
Georgia’s Black charter students scored above their traditional peers in fourth-grade math (22 points), fourth-grade reading (23 points), eighth-grade math (11 points) and eighth-grade reading (10 points).
Meanwhile, students enrolled in a charter school within Atlanta Public Schools also exceeded the average scores of their traditional peers. District fourth graders outperformed their traditional peers by 10 points in math and 6 points in reading. Atlanta’s charter eighth graders received an average math score that was 12 points higher and 7 points above traditional students in reading.
Black students attending an APS charter scored above their peers in fourth-grade math (16 points), fourth-grade reading (13 points), eighth-grade math (11 points), and eighth-grade reading (10 points).
According to the Georgia Department of Education, the percentages of students performing at the NAEP Basic and NAEP Proficient levels were not significantly different than 2019 in most subject areas. Nationally, a majority of states saw scores decrease for fourth-and eighth-graders in math and reading between 2019 and 2022.
