Researchers at Education Next have graded state proficiency standards on an A–F scale since 2005. To generate these letter grades, we compare the percentage of students identified as proficient on state assessments to the percentage of students identified as proficient on the more-rigorous National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In 2005, 35 percentage points separated the proficiency results on the average state test from the NAEP results for the same state. In 2017, only 9 percentage points separated these two results.

You can learn more about our methodology for grading the states, view the rigor of your state’s proficiency standards using our interactive graphic, or read the full article by Daniel Hamlin and Paul E. Peterson.

—Education Next