Below is an analysis of 4th grade math proficiency for 2007 for the 50 states and how it interacts with other important education indicators such as funding, demographics, and achievement.

4th grade math proficiency varies by region.

On average, 4th graders in the Northeast and the Midwest perform better on NAEP math tests than 4th graders in the South and the West. In the Northeastern states, approximately 46 percent of 4th graders are reading at the proficient level, while in the Southern states, only 34 percent are reading at the proficient level. The 10 lowest-performing states in the country are all located in the South or the West, while the 10 highest-performing states are located in the Northeast or Midwest. 1

Massachusetts ranks first in the country with 58 percent of its 4th graders testing proficient in math. Compare this to low-performing, similar-sized (and also much poorer) Tennessee, where only 29 percent of 4th graders are proficient in math. This means that Massachusetts has approximately 20,200 more 4th graders proficient in math than Tennessee—around 29 percent of each state’s 4th grade population.

4th grade math proficiency is roughly correlated with student poverty and statewide per-pupil expenditure levels.

In general, states that perform better in 4th grade math proficiency have lower student poverty rates. Research by the RAND Corporation has found that NAEP performance is linked to student background and family characteristics. 2 In the states that rank in the bottom 10 in 4th grade math proficiency, 20.4 percent of students are living in poverty, in comparison to the states that rank in the top 10, where 11.8 percent of students are living in poverty.

The five lowest-performing states in 4th grade math proficiency—Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama, and Tennessee—rank 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 9th in student poverty, respectively. The correlation on the high-performing end is not quite as strong, but still suggestive: the top five states—Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Kansas—rank 37th, 50th, 44th, 43rd, and 36th in student poverty respectively.

In addition, there is a relationship between 4th grade math proficiency and statewide per-pupil expenditure. While this correlation is not as strong as the correlation with student poverty, states that have more math-proficient 4th graders generally spend more on education. This relationship could also be a reflection of student demographics and relative state poverty. The states that rank in the bottom 10 in 4th grade math proficiency spend, on average, $7,696 per-pupil, while the states that rank in the top 10 spend $10,690 per-pupil.

4th grade math proficiency has been on the rise in the past decade and continues to show improvement.*

Between 1992 and 2005, 4th grade math proficiency on NAEP tests increased 21 percentage points, from 18 percent to 39 percent. There was also a significant increase in 4th grade math proficiency between 2003 (32 percent) and 2007 (39 percent), in contrast to flat reading proficiency rates.

The achievement gap among white and minority 4th graders in math has been closing since 1992, but remains significant.

Math proficiency has increased by 13 percentage points for 4th grade black students (2 percent to 15 percent) and 16 percentage points for Hispanics (6 percent to 22 percent proficient). White students’ proficiency increased as well (22 percent to 51 percent proficient), and the scale score gap between white and minority students is in decline. Still, the achievement gap remains between white and minority students. In 2007, the African American math proficiency rate was 36 percentage points lower than the white student proficiency rate.

1. 1. Regions. Northeast: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont. Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin. South: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia. West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming
2. 2. David W. Grissmer, Ann Flanagan, Jennifer H. Kawata, & Stephanie Williamson, RAND Corporation, Improving Student Achievement: What State NAEP Test Scores Tell Us