Your chart of the week. If we average each state’s scores on the four main NAEP tests (4th & 8th grade reading & math) and then rank them, Mississippi placed 50th in 2013. Vermont was 5th.

By 2024, Vermont had dropped to 28th. Mississippi improved to 29th. Two very different states converging from opposite directions.

We know a great deal about what happened in Mississippi. Who can explain what happened in Vermont?