Part 1 of a 3-part commentary
by Gerry Silverstein
During the last decade the amount of money that has been spent on public school education in Vermont is inversely proportional to student proficiency scores on national standardized exams (NAEP exams-National Assessment of Educational Progress) in 4th and 8th grade math and reading.
In short: since 2013-15 spending more money on public school education in Vermont has been associated with a decline in learning proficiency acquisition, not an improvement in the core areas of 4th and 8th grade math and reading.
It is true that, nationwide, learning proficiency in core areas has fallen in all states.
However Vermont’s results are especially concerning considering the State has the second highest spending per pupil of all 50 States, spends twice as much as 16 other states, and Vermont statewide has the lowest ratio of pupils to staff (4.4:1) of all 50 states (national average of 7.45:1).
Vermont scores statewide for 4th grade math, 8th grade math, 4th grade reading and 8th grade reading translated into the following rankings compared to all 50 States on 2024 NAEP exams:
34, 18, 33, and 24. (#1 ranking is best; Massachusetts was #1 in all 4 categories).
Utah spends 170% less per student compared to Vermont: $10,000 per pupil versus $27,000 in Vermont (2024) yet Utah had rankings of 4, 3, 7, and 8 on the corresponding 2024 NAEP exams!
Question: Are standardized tests a good metric for measuring student proficiency in the core areas of math, reading, and science?
Answer: If tests are well written and students are adequately prepared for how their learning will be assessed on the exams, the answer is unequivocally yes!
Question: Are standardized tests the only way to measure success in public school education?
Answer: No, absolutely not, but they are free from the bias associated with the epidemic of grade inflation leading to student GPAs that often do not accurately represent student academic skills and knowledge acquisition in core areas.
The above NAEP results along with in-state standardized testing (see below) send 2 clear messages:
#1: significant numbers of Vermont public school students have yet to acquire the core knowledge in math, reading, and science that is essential for future success.
#2: there is no objective basis for spending ever-increasing amounts of money as an approach to improving proficiency outcomes for Vermont students.
The author, a South Burlington resident, is a virologist who taught courses related to human health and disease at UVM for 22 years.