NEW YORK, January 29, 2025 – Teach For America Chief Executive Officer Elisa Villanueva Beard released the following statement on the 2024 NAEP results.

"Today’s release of the Nation’s Report Card tells a story that is too familiar, but one that we cannot accept as the status quo: Our education system has not evolved fast enough to meet the needs of this generation of students or to set them up with the learning, experiences, and skills they need to learn, lead, and thrive in the 21st century. 

The results from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 4th- and 8th-grade math and reading assessments show that student learning continues to decline in reading and is not progressing enough in math to make up for pandemic learning losses. We’re not doing right by our kids, and they deserve better. 

The good news is we know what works, and we need to invest in that now. When students read proficiently by 3rd grade and master certain math principles by 4th and 8th grades, they are more likely to graduate high school and to be prepared for college and careers, putting them on track to have agency and freedom in their lives, to fuel our economy, and to make their greatest contributions to their communities and country and strengthen our democracy. To get there, we have to work together and invest in high-quality, evidence-based curricula and professional development for educators alongside high-dosage math and reading tutoring for students. We also have to embrace the idea that every child can be a reader and be good at math. And we need to leave room for innovation so that our education system can keep up with what students need from a 21st-century education. The potential is there, we just have to match it with investments and support for all students. 

In the 35 years since our founding, Teach For America’s 'why' has remained consistent—to create a world where one day, all children will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education. The stakes are too high for us not to unite around this simple belief and work with a shared commitment to kids and communities. Seventy-thousand people have joined our teacher corps and Ignite tutoring fellowship with this abiding belief. We look forward to continuing to recruit, train, and support the next generation of teachers and tutors and working alongside others, including our alumni—at the classroom and systems level – to ensure every child in every neighborhood can receive the education they deserve."

About Teach For America

Teach For America works in partnership with communities across the country to expand educational opportunities for children. Founded in 1990, Teach For America finds, develops, and supports a diverse network of leaders who expand opportunity for children from classrooms, schools, and every sector and field that shapes the broader systems in which schools operate. Today, Teach For America is a force of 70,000 alumni, corps members, and Ignite fellows working in pursuit of profound systemic change so that one day every child has an equal opportunity to learn, lead, thrive, and co-create a future filled with possibility. Teach For America is a proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org and follow us on Facebook and X.

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