Duval shows mixed midyear gains while NAEP and attendance trends raise district concern

Duval County Schools officials told the school board on Thursday that national and state comparisons show worrying declines in some assessments even as the district sees early, localized gains from new curricula and targeted supports.

The district’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) trend lines show Duval above large‑city averages in fourth‑grade math but with signs of leveling. Fourth‑grade reading dropped by four scale points from 215 to 211 on one slide the district presented; eighth‑grade results fell more steeply and put Duval below the large‑city average, presenters said. The district also highlighted a national Education Recovery Scorecard study showing chronic absenteeism rose sharply through the COVID years and has only partially recovered, with higher free‑and‑reduced‑price‑lunch districts seeing larger increases.

Those national and state indicators matter because NAEP provides a common yardstick for cross‑state comparisons and because chronic absenteeism is linked in published research to lower achievement. Board members pressed staff on what the scores mean for local policy and whether Florida’s reporting and attendance definitions complicate comparisons.

Nate (district assessment staff)…