Today, Governor Kay Ivey participated in a press briefing for Alabama’s results in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), better known as the nation’s report card. In addition to Governor Kay Ivey, State Superintendent of Education Dr. Eric Mackey attended the briefing as well. At the event, Governor Ivey said, “Today we celebrate our students, teachers, and parents because we are making significant progress in education in our state.”
Gov. Ivey believes that literacy and numeracy are the two areas students are having the most trouble with. However, with Alabama’s additional efforts to combat this issue, things are starting to look up. When Gov. Ivey took office in 2018, Alabama ranked 49th in reading. Today, Alabama is currently sitting at spot number 34. In 2018, Alabama’s math scores were ranked number 52. That number has changed quite a bit, as we now rank number 32. The Governor says that she ran for a second term for one reason: our schools. In her inaugural address, she announced a goal to see Alabama in the top 30 for reading and math scores nationwide. Saying today, “We are well on our way to meeting and exceeding that.”
In the next two years, Governor Ivey plans to work on ensuring every single child in Alabama has access to quality education. State Superintendent of Education Dr. Eric Mackey also applauded the students and teachers for their hard work but said, “We are not where we want to be just yet.” Dr. Mackey noted that before Gov. Ivey took office, Alabama had not ranked above 46th in 50 years. In recent years, Dr. Mackey says Alabama has seen the largest gain in math scores. However, reading scores have hit a plateau. The two are confident Alabama is on the right track to achieve that top 30 goal, as they say they are making the right investments and adopting the right strategies.
