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State Test Scores Show Continued Improvement in Math and English Language Arts

State Superintendent Chris Reykdal at the Podium

*OLYMPIA—September 10, 2025—*In a press conference from the Old Capitol Building in Olympia today, State Superintendent Chris Reykdal shared important data about student learning and announced results from the spring 2025 state assessments in math and English language arts (ELA).

In his remarks, Reykdal laid out a comprehensive picture of student achievement in Washington state, highlighting comparisons to students across the nation and globe.

“Washington students continue to perform on par with or better than their peers across the nation,” Reykdal said. “Among the 11 other states using the same state test vendor as we do, our students have the second-highest performance in ELA and the fourth-highest performance in math. At the same time, we have gaps to close.”

The state tests, which are administered each spring in grades 3–8 and 10 and are required by the federal government, are designed to assess whether a student is on-track for college level learning without needing remedial courses.


What Do The Scores Mean graphic

Source: Smarter Balanced

The tests are not pass/fail and they do not provide a complete picture of a student’s knowledge and skills. The tests are administered on a single day, and many students see their performance fluctuate year over year.  

“Measuring student learning is complex,” Reykdal said. “Students, families, and educators know that a student’s knowledge and achievement can’t be described by just one measure. That’s why we also consider evidence-based measures like student attendance, course-taking, and GPA, among others.”

“There is a movement to privatize the public sector, and the deliberate misrepresentation and subsequent weaponization of test scores is a key tactic,” he continued. “If you’ve ever heard that ‘half of our students can’t read or do basic math,’ you were lied to.”

The 2025 data show that students are continuing their post-pandemic recovery, with improvement in scores across all grade levels in math and across most grade levels in English language arts.

Change in Students Demonstrating Foundational Grade-Level Knowledge in ELA and Math from 2024 to 2025
Change in Students Demonstrating Foundational Grade-Level Knowledge in ELA and Math from 2024 to 2025

Achievement levels on the state assessment represent a range of performance. Three of the four achievement levels indicate grade-level knowledge and skills, with increasing accuracy and complexity. While Level 1 indicates achievement that is not on grade level, Level 2 indicates foundational grade-level knowledge and skills, and Levels 3 and 4 indicate a student is on track for college-level learning without needing remedial classes.

Across all grade levels, 71% of students demonstrated foundational grade-level knowledge and above in ELA, and 63% of students in math.

Distribution of Student Performance in ELA and Math Relative to Grade-Level Standards in 2025
Distribution of Student Performance in ELA and Math Relative to Grade-Level Standards in 2025

Opportunity and achievement gaps persist, though, for many student groups, underscoring the need to maintain and build upon critical investments for historically underserved student groups—many of which are investments that the federal government is threatening to rescind, such as Title I, Title III, and other discretionary grants intended to support student learning.

Change in Students Demonstrating Foundational Grade-Level Knowledge in ELA from 2024 to 2025
Change in Students Demonstrating Foundational Grade-Level Knowledge in ELA from 2024 to 2025
Change in Students Demonstrating Foundational Grade-Level Knowledge in Math from 2024 to 2025
Change in Students Demonstrating Foundational Grade-Level Knowledge in Math from 2024 to 2025

While Washington students continue to outperform their peers nationally, reading and math scores across the globe have been declining for the last 13 and 16 years, respectively.

Reading and Math Assessment Scores of 15-Year-Olds Over Time: U.S. vs. Worldwide
Reading and Math Assessment Scores of 15-Year-Olds Over Time: U.S. vs. Worldwide

Source: Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA is an Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)-led assessment of 15-year-old students' knowledge and skills. The OECD consists of 37 democracies with market-based economies.

“The trends that we are seeing across the nation are mirrored internationally,” Reykdal said. “Both the way that young people are engaging with content in our digital world and the needs of the workforce are evolving all the time. To maintain competitiveness, our teaching has to evolve with it.”

“We are jumping into this work in Washington state, starting with math,” Reykdal continued. “Traditional math instruction is centered on memorization and repetition. What our economy and our globe needs are critical thinkers who know how to apply their learning to real-world problems. In our schools, students are receiving math instruction in welding, construction, and a host of other applied programs.”

Superintendent Reykdal’s budget proposal to the Governor and Legislature for the 2026 Legislative Session will include funds to support math instruction in kindergarten through eighth grade as an initial, lower-cost and targeted investment.

Viewing Assessment Results 

Assessment results for math, English language arts, and science are available for the state as well as by school and school district on the Washington State Report Card [ [link removed] ]. Users can also download data files from the Report Card if they are interested in more detail. 

Parents and families should contact their child's school or school district for more information about their student's assessment results. 

For More Information

* Watch the recording of Superintendent Reykdal’s press conference on OSPI’s Facebook [ [link removed] ] or OSPI’s YouTube [ [link removed] ]
* View the slides from Superintendent Reykdal’s press conference [ [link removed] ]
* Smarter Balanced Assessments: What Do the Scores Mean? (one-pager) [ [link removed] ]
* Smarter Balanced Assessments: What Do the Scores Mean? (Q&A) [ [link removed] ]

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Led by State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, OSPI oversees K-12 public education in Washington state. Our mission is to provide funding, resources, tools, data and technical assistance that enable educators to ensure students succeed in our public schools, are prepared to access post-secondary training and education, and are equipped to thrive in their careers and lives.

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