Young students have a reason to play, or celebrate at least. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Vermont students made high achievements in reading and math.  Students in the fourth and eighth grades scored above the basic reading levels at 75% and 84%.  The N.A.E.P. is known as the nations report card that focuses not only on the individual schools, but also on the state as a whole.  The test also looks at the scores of each individual student based on income and diversity.

Jill Remick, the Vermont Department of  Education's Communication Director, said, "Students from poverty come to school at a disadvantage and they tend to not do as well and they do need more support and so this is a way to access, how those students are doing compared to their peers. And also to see if they are making gains compared to how they have done in the past... It says alot about Vermont education it's great to do so well. I mean we're up there with Massachusetts, and Connecticut, New Jersey. The fact that we are comparing really well nationally is always great."

Even with the poverty-based achievement gap, VT students are still leading the country with their high scores.