Student Achievement
Each year, all students in grades 3-8 and grade 11 take the Hawaii State Assessments (HSA) in language arts and mathematics. Hawaii administers Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBA) in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics. Science achievement is assessed via the HSA Science (NGSS) assessments in grades 5 and 8 along with a Biology I end of course examinations for high school students. In addition, the Hawaii State Alternate Assessment (HSA-Alt) and the Kaiapuni Assessment of Educational Outcomes (KAEO), a Hawaiian Language assessment, are administered to eligible students in Language Arts, mathematics and science. This page examines both student performance on the state standards as well as the extent all eligible students complete testing. Data as of 2022-2023. Due to COVID-19, Hawaii public schools were waived from 2020 statewide testing by the U.S. Department of Education. As a result, a number of test-derived results are not available for 2020.
Achievement by subject
Language arts, mathematics and science achievement are based on the percent of students meeting and exceeding standards/proficiency.
Achievement over time
Achievement breakdown by subject and achievement level
These charts illustrate language arts, mathematics and science achievement across four achievement levels: well-below (Level 1), approaches (Level 2), meets (Level 3) and exceeds (Level 4).
Achievement breakdown by subject and race/ethnicity
These charts illustrate language arts, mathematics and science percentages of students meeting and exceeding standards by Hawaii's major race/ethnicity groups.
Achievement breakdown by subject and student group
These charts illustrate language arts, mathematics and science percentages of students meeting and exceeding standards by high needs categories that include economically disadvantaged, English learners and special education students.
Assessment participation by subject
Schools are expected to assess all students eligible for testing. High participation rates help to ensure valid results and valid representation of all students and student subgroups.
Alternate assessment participation by subject
HSA-Alt participation results include the percentage of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who participate in alternate assessments aligned with alternate academic achievement standards by grade-level and subject.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only assessment that serves as a common measure of student achievement across the country, providing valuable data on student performance in comparison to other states and long-term trends in student performance within and across key demographic groups. NAEP is administered to students in grades 4 and 8 in selected schools every other year. Different schools may be selected in different years, thus NAEP results are based on samples of students across Hawaii public and public charter schools rather than including all grade 4 and grade 8 students. State assessments and the NAEP assessments are designed for different, yet overlapping, purposes. The NAEP assessments are designed based on the NAEP frameworks which identify common learning targets that are generally agreed upon. NAEP provides an alternative measure of student achievement in grades 4 and 8 reading and mathematics that allows for comparisons across states, and thus, is known as "The Nation's Report Card." Data from the 2021 NAEP administration.