Are the majority of Nevada fourth graders reading and writing below their grade level?

According to data collected by the Nevada Department of Education during the 2021-22 school year, 34,705 Nevada fourth graders representing more than 97% of enrolled fourth graders tested for "English Language Arts" proficiency, which evaluates reading and writing skills. Only 42.7% met the performance standard for their grade level. This is a decline from four years earlier, when 48.5% of fourth graders met the standard. Among all students in grades three to eight, 43.7% met their grade-level standards during the 2021-22 school year.

Commenting on the decline, Jonathan Moore, deputy superintendent for student achievement at the Nevada Department of Education, told KNPR that the pandemic affected students’ learning overall, especially while schools were closed.

Republican gubernatorial challenger Joe Lombardo has highlighted the 2019 repeal of a legislative provision that required underperforming third graders to be held back as another reason for the decline.