Education policy

More money, similar reading scores: state per-pupil spending barely predicts NAEP grade-4 reading

Each dot is a state or DC. The fitted line is essentially flat — spending explains less than 1% of the variance in 2024 grade-4 reading scores.

Source: NAEP 2024 Reading Assessment, Grade 4 average scale score, public schools (NCES, Nation's Report Card); per-pupil current spending FY2023, U.S. Census Bureau Annual Survey of School System Finances, Table 8. Each label is the USPS state abbreviation. See methodology.