Alabama students continued steady improvement in English and math across all grade levels on the state’s suite of standardized tests, the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP).

The tests are given in the spring to students in public schools statewide, grades 3-8.

Across all grades, 60% of students tested proficient in English Language Arts (ELA), 42% of students scored proficient in science, and 35% in Math.  

Figure 1. Average proficiency levels of all grades, all subjects, compared by year. Reference bar indicates state average.  

The percentage of students scoring proficient climbed at every grade level except for 4th-grade science, where the percentage of proficient students declined by one percentage point.

Figure 2. Average proficiency levels, all grade levels, all subjects, compared by year. Reference bar indicates state average. 

The strongest gains were in 3rd and 4th-grade math, where the proficiency rate increased more than three percentage points, and in 7th-grade ELA, which climbed more than five percentage points. Fifth-grade ELA also showed a higher percentage gain, climbing more than four percentage points.

Figure 3. Change in proficiency in all grades, all subjects, compared by year 

Proficiency rose across all demographic subgroups, though score gaps between racial, ethnic, and economic subgroups remain wide.   

Figure 4. Comparison of average proficiency, by subgroup, by year

Across all grades and subjects, the average proficiency rate for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds was 29 percentage points lower than for other students.

Figure 5. Comparison of proficiency rates, 2025, economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students

Because of that score gap, comparisons between schools or systems should always consider the levels of economic disadvantage of the schools in the comparison. In general, schools and systems with higher rates of economic disadvantage have lower average proficiency rates. However, systems with similar rates of economic disadvantage can have very different proficiency rates. Systems above the line of prediction in Figure 6 are performing better than average, considering the system’s level of economic disadvantage.

Figure 6. Poverty vs. Proficiency, Alabama public school systems, all subjects, all grades

Using the tabs and menus in the visualizations, you can focus on systems, schools, subjects, and grade levels of interest.

This is the first in our new Keys to Success series. The series spotlights schools and school systems that outperform their peers or show remarkable improvement and asks, “What is driving performance, and what can be replicated?” The series is supported by the generosity of Bedsole Foundation, Charles & Estelle Campbell Foundation, Daniel Foundation, Hugh Kaul Foundation, Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation, Robert Meyer Foundation, Susan Mott Web Foundation, and Wells Fargo Foundation.

Wilcox County Schools have the highest rate of economic disadvantage in the state, with 91% of students automatically qualifying for a free school lunch.

Yet, in spite of economic disadvantage, Wilcox County third graders were among the state’s top performers on this spring’s reading test, with 96% of students clearing the benchmark for grade-level promotion.

By the end of the summer literacy camp, all Wilcox students had passed the test.

ABC Elementary principal Cherylrettia Bennett finds motivation in beating the odds.

“For me, it’s a challenge. I like to be considered the underdog. We instill high expectations in our kids, and that spreads into the homes of our parents, and into the communities in which we serve,” she said. “We are not the bottom of the barrel. We are the cream of the crop.”

Schools with high concentrations of economically disadvantaged students tend to post lower scores on standardized tests than schools where economic disadvantage is not as concentrated. Across multiple measures, the rate of economic disadvantage among students tends to predict performance.

But in the case of 3^rd grade reading results, Alabama schools and school systems are beginning to disrupt this relationship between economic disadvantage and reading results. Over 90% of students at each of the three Wilcox County Elementary Schools scored at or above the reading sufficiency benchmarks; 90% or more were from economically disadvantaged households.

Wilcox County wasn’t the only system achieving high rates of reading sufficiency, despite high rates of economic disadvantage. Neighboring school systems in Selma City and Lowndes County both have economic disadvantage rates near 90%. Both systems saw 90% or more of their third graders scoring at or above the reading proficiency benchmark.

In three other systems—Daleville City, and the Butler and Clarke county systems—more than three-quarters of the students are from economically disadvantaged schools, but 90% tested ready for promotion on the reading portion of the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP).

Statewide, 35 schools with economic disadvantage rates of 75% or higher had 90% or more of their students testing above the benchmark.

What’s Working

PARCA’s visit to Wilcox County begins a project to understand what drives successes like these. It’s an important moment to identify factors that produce better results for students.

Schools have had an unprecedented level of financial support in recent years. Schools are in the final stages of spending the surge of federal spending aimed at overcoming the effects of school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic.   

Thanks to a surge in state revenue and commitment by the Alabama Legislature, schools have seen unprecedented investment and effort in improving reading instruction since the passage, in 2019, of the Alabama Literacy Act.

The Act and the Legislature’s follow-up investment have re-energized a statewide corps of reading support specialists and building-based reading coaches in every elementary school. Teachers across the state have been retrained in reading instruction, adopting approaches grounded in the science of reading.

The Legislature and the Governor’s Office have also provided extra funding for schools like those in Wilcox, where there are high rates of economic disadvantage and a history of underperformance. The State Department of Education has provided focused support from academic specialists to local educators in those schools.

There is evidence that sustained investment in proven strategies is paying dividends. In the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, Alabama and Louisiana were the only two states where students scored higher in 4th-grade reading than 4th-grade students did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PARCA recently interviewed Wilcox County’s superintendent, Dr. Andre’ Saulsberry, and the principals, teachers, and reading coaches at Wilcox County’s three elementary schools about the factors that contributed to their success.

Starting Early

The recent success is built on years of effort, said Saulsberry, effort that starts with reaching children in their earliest years so that they come into kindergarten ready to learn.

Wilcox County, with support from the Department of Early Childhood Education, became the first county where Alabama’s First Class Pre-K was available to all students who wanted it. Wilcox teachers and administrators credit Pre-K with preparing students socially so that they entered Kindergarten ready to learn.

Wilcox County also offers Head Start for three-year-olds and has applied to start Head Start for 2-year-olds.

The interest in early childhood education isn’t new. Eleven years ago, Wilcox began participating in the HIPPY program, which provides home visits to parents of children between the ages of 2 and 5. The program provides parents with parenting strategies and resources for beginning the educational journey in the home, realizing that parents are the first teachers.     

According to Saulsberry, years of cultivation have produced a climate in which parents are active and informed participants in their children’s educational journey. Saulsberry said it is especially gratifying to have fathers interested, informed, and engaged, something he didn’t use to see.  “We are reaping the benefits of investments we made years ago,” Saulsberry said.  

Principal as Instructional Leader of an Instructional Team

Wilcox County Elementary Schools are led by professionals who know how to teach reading and can model it for others.

Two principals were reading coaches before taking over as principals. The third was an elementary reading teacher and completed the state-sponsored training in the science of reading, known as LETRS. All three then received a second round of LETRS-training, a version geared towards administrators.

With their own classroom experience and with all that training and coaching, the principals know what good teaching looks like. They all regularly visit classrooms and observe their teachers in action. Afterwards, they offer praise and suggestions when merited and will sometimes take a turn at the front of the classroom if modeling a lesson would help.

Each school’s reading coach also collaborates with K-3 teachers to analyze student data, target instruction, and improve technique. The coaches strive for a relationship with teachers that is not perceived as evaluation but as collaboration and support. According to Saulsberry, all K-3 teachers in Wilcox were LETRS-trained.

In fact, much of the elementary school faculty in Wilcox County is LETRS-trained since many of the teachers now teaching in grades 4-6 started out teaching in the earlier grades. Reading interventionists and Special Education teachers are also trained in LETRS.

Hobbs Elementary Principal Vernita Lassiter said LETRS training and the state’s support have been helpful, but the most effective professional development is when Wilcox County faculty members start learning from one another.

“The most beneficial professional development, where we got the most buy-in, was when it was coming from peers.  We know we are in the same shoes. We feed off each other,” she said.

The schools hold faculty and staff retreats to dive deep into their data and plans. Teaching has changed, they said. It is more collaborative, and lessons are more mapped to a progressive set of academic standards that build on each other from year to year.

Student Data – drawn from classwork, formative assessments, and practice ACAP tests – gives teachers and coaches greater insight into what piece of the reading puzzle is frustrating a student. Their assessment tool, Aimsweb, helps monitor student progress and flag students who might need evaluation for dyslexia. With more information, interventions can be targeted.

Bennett said the team involves everyone at the school, not just the faculty and staff, but also the bus drivers and cafeteria staff. The school’s prominently displayed continuous improvement plan has four goals: to increase student academic proficiency, decrease discipline issues, increase attendance, and engage parents and the community. Strategies and measures support those goals, and everyone has a role to play.

Small Schools: Extra Help

One factor working in their favor was size. Wilcox County, like many rural counties in Alabama, has steadily lost population over time as economic activity has become increasingly focused in urbanized metropolitan counties. The overall population decline has led to fewer students in the Wilcox County School System.

However, the system has, to some extent, turned that into an advantage, keeping class sizes low and seeing that each student gets the specialized attention they need.

ABC Elementary had only 12 students enrolled in its 3^rd grade class; F.S. Ervin Elementary, 21; and J.E. Hobbs Elementary, 41. That’s a total of just over seventy students across the system. Like every elementary school in the state, each of the Wilcox schools had a full-time K-3 Reading coach.

And last year, there was more instructional help beyond that. Two of the schools—ABC and Hobbs Elementary Schools—were designated by Gov. Kay Ivey as Governor’s Turnaround Schools. Those schools, two of 15 statewide, received extra funding and additional instructional support from state experts. Both schools used the extra money to put an extra trained teacher’s aide in each K-2 classroom and to provide an additional teacher’s aide per grade level, from 3rd to 6th. Hobbs also employed two academic interventionists.

Ervin and ABC shared a speech pathologist, while Hobbs had one of their own.

Ervin, which didn’t have access to the turnaround funds, devised a creative solution for providing students with extra support. The school built an extra ACAP-focused period into the schedule. During that period, students left their regular classrooms to work with a different teacher who could provide a fresh perspective in an area where each student was struggling. It worked like specialized small-group tutoring.

With small classes and extra personnel, students could receive more individualized evaluations and help.

This year, Wilcox has been informed that the Wilcox Schools are being phased out of the turnaround program. So, the system won’t be bringing back those extra-paraprofessionals they’d added. Some of the personnel are being transitioned to other roles. Regardless, the system will have to do more with less.

That doesn’t discourage Saulsberry. He feels like he has built a well-trained team that has seen that they and their students can meet high expectations.

Saulsberry said that small classes are advantageous, but the essential ingredient is a well-trained teacher. A larger class with high-quality instruction is preferable to a small class led by an uninspired teacher.  

Stable, rooted, and trained faculty and staff

It is challenging to recruit and retain teachers in rural school districts. Saulsberry said many young teachers from elsewhere don’t apply or, if they are hired, don’t persist.

“They want to be near a mall or Walmart. We don’t have that to offer,” he said.

But as a counter strategy, Wilcox likes finding teacher candidates who will build a career in the system. Wilcox County natives, whether they graduated with teaching degrees or not, make good candidates. They know what they are getting into and tend to be committed to the community. Even if their college degree is in a different field, a recruited prospect can receive the on-the-job training and experience needed to get their teaching certificate.

Saulsberry said some of his best teachers didn’t come through the traditional teacher training route. He used Governor’s Turnaround Funding to hire Professional Development Services, LLC, a Montgomery-based educational consulting firm, to help those teachers learn classroom management and instructional techniques they lacked.

Wilcox teachers are rooted in the community. Of the 10 faculty members who gathered recently to talk about Wilcox County’s success in reading, all but one grew up in Wilcox County. The one exception is married to a Wilcox County native. The system’s superintendent is a Wilcox County native and has spent 10 years in his post, a long term of service for a superintendent. 

ABC Elementary Principal Cherylrettia Bennett said she knows her students’ grandparents because she went to school with them. She also knows the kids’ parents because they were her students when she was a teacher. That connection provides insight into a child’s context and gives her contacts and credibility when speaking to the family.

Priscilla Lett, a third-grade teacher at ABC, said parents knew they’d get a call from her any time a child was absent or late. Parents realized she cared, and they responded with a deeper feeling of accountability. “If Miss Lett cares that much about their education, I need to start caring more because I don’t want anyone to care more about my babies’ education than I do.”

Community Involvement

All three elementary schools stressed the importance of involving parents and the community in inspiring and supporting students to meet high expectations.

Parents were asked to write notes of encouragement for their children that were posted on the school walls. During morning announcements, community leaders or football and basketball coaches would challenge students to perform academically.

Local businesses provided gift certificates to teachers to show their appreciation.

The Parent-Teacher Organization found ways of motivating students, like providing ice cream treats and holding special fun days.

Jaserica Angion, a 3^rd grade teacher Hobbs, said she could see the children light up when they got encouragement and attention. And because other people believed in them, they believed in themselves.

“I set high expectations from day one,” she said. “They were really competitive and collaborative. And they reached those expectations.”

Halfway through 2025, Birmingham’s homicide total is half what it was midyear 2024, a dramatic turnaround after a year of record-setting violence.   

According to data from the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, total homicides in Jefferson County have been trending down from a peak in 2021, despite the record number of homicides in the City of Birmingham in 2024. Countywide, there were 196 murders in 2024. In 2021, there were 216.

Excluding Birmingham, homicides in the rest of the county dropped from 87 in 2021 to 47 in 2024, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels.

Figure 1 shows total homicides by year. The bar is shaded by the means of death. The red-shaded portion of the bar represents homicides involving guns. Most homicides in Jefferson County involve guns.

Figure 1. Jefferson County Homicide Trends, by Means of Death

In the first half of 2025, Birmingham saw a precipitous drop in the number of murders, with 37 murders in the first six months of the year, compared to 76 by midyear 2024, according to data provided by the Birmingham Police Department.

While murders, robberies, and auto theft were all down compared to the first six months of 2024, aggravated assaults, theft, and burglary were up.

Taking the statistics together, Birmingham police have recorded more total criminal incidents in 2025 than for the same period in 2024.

Figure 2. Birmingham Part I Crime Trends

Beyond Birmingham, in the portions of Jefferson County patrolled by the Sheriff’s Office, homicides in the first half of 2025 were even with the total for the first half of 2024.

Aggravated assaults were up, but other Part 1 crimes were down.

Figure 3. Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Area

PARCA’s data analysis stems from the Birmingham-Jefferson County Justice Governance Partnership, a collaboration between Birmingham, Jefferson County, the Jefferson County Health Department, the Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney, and a wide array of other public agencies, nonprofits, and community groups. The BJC-JGP brings stakeholders together around a common pool of community and public safety data. The aim is to increase public safety through effective response and by improving underlying conditions that leave communities more vulnerable to crime.

Context

Homicides began rising in Jefferson County in 2015, which paralleled a national rise in homicides. Then in 2020, the number of murders in Jefferson County and around the country leapt sharply.

Each year from 2020 through the end of 2024, the total number of murders in Jefferson County has been twice that of the total recorded in 2014. Across the country, homicides began dropping in 2022, though in some cities, including Birmingham, the homicides continued to climb. By the end of 2024, homicides nationally were below pre-pandemic levels. Homicides were below the 2019 level in the rest of Jefferson County, excluding Birmingham, in 2024. However, Birmingham’s record total, which included multiple mass shootings in which four or more victims died, kept the county’s overall rate elevated.

The Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) has been tracking trends in 40 cities across the U.S. and, in a 2024 year-end report published in January, found that homicides had decreased 6% from a 2019 baseline.

Figure 3. 40 U.S. City Homicide Trend

Theories on the National Rise and Fall of Violence

There have been various theories advanced about why murders began increasing in 2015 and continued to rise until recently. The CCJ’s Crime Trends Working Group cited various theories on what led to the rise in homicides. What follows is a summary of the points mentioned. The full text is available at the link above.

• Undermined Police Legitimacy: Beginning with the police-killing of Michael Brown in 2014 in Ferguson, MO, and increasing with the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, decreased respect for law enforcement led to a surge in murders.
• De-Policing: In the light of the pandemic and protests, law enforcement and the criminal justice system generally decreased interaction and criminal case processing.
• Routine Activity Theory: This theory argues that crime stems from the combination of a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of capable guardians. Covid-19 disrupted normal structures of support and engagement, and, at the same time, decreased protective services, leading to a rise in crime.
• Gun Sales: A spike in gun sales during the pandemic may have had an effect. However, other research suggests the consumers driving the spike in gun sales were largely already gun owners, and thus, the increased number of guns didn’t increase the number of people with guns. In Birmingham, the availability of devices that allow guns to function as if they were automatic weapons may have increased the lethality of shooting incidents.
• Bail Reform and Progressive Prosecution: Some observers blamed criminal justice reforms aimed at reducing long jail stays for people unable to post bail and a perceived pull-back in prosecutions. Covid also led to delays in prosecutions and criminal case backlogs. Other working group members disputed the theory, citing research studies that have found no impact of bail reform on rearrest or overall crime rate. In many jurisdictions, reforms were in place when crime was still falling. Also, after the pandemic spike, violence began falling, even in jurisdictions that maintained the reforms.
• Drug Market Disruption: The pandemic led to changes in where people obtained drugs and the kind of drugs available, including the rise of fentanyl. These disruptions coincided with the 2020-2021 spike in violence, suggesting a connection.
• Crime Reduction Interventions: A suite of approaches to violence reduction has become widely recognized as working together to reduce violence. Some of those programs were disrupted by the pandemic. In response to the violence spike, cities revived or launched new intervention programs, including both law enforcement strategies and community-based interventions, yielding decreases in violence.

Understanding Patterns and Targeting Interventions

Research shows that violence tends to be concentrated geographically and disproportionately between and within social networks. Using Jefferson County Coroner’s data from 2012 to the present to map where homicide victims have been found reveals a stark pattern. Homicides disproportionately occur in Jones Valley in areas east and west of the central city, stretching down as far as Bessemer.

Figure 4. Jefferson County Homicides by Zip Code 2012-2025

In 2024, homicides were even more concentrated. Figure 5 tallies homicides by Census tract. Tracts are a more compact geographic area than zip codes. Census tracts also tend to group neighborhoods and populations that are economically and demographically similar. In 2024, four Census tracts experienced seven or eight homicides apiece. Seven additional tracts saw five or six homicides. Homicides occurred in 85 of the 189 Census tracts in the county; 43 tracts experienced two or more homicides.

Figure 5. Jefferson County Homicides by Census Tract, 2024

Homicide is impacting the Black community disproportionately. Blacks make up less than half of Jefferson County’s population, but, in 2024, 88% percent of Jefferson County’s homicide victims were Black.

Interventions That May Be Decreasing Homicides

There is no definitive answer to why homicides have dropped so precipitously and whether the trend will continue. However, the combined effects of multiple approaches to violence reduction may be paying off. These include changes to enforcement strategies and public health-oriented approaches to violence reduction.

Research shows that a small number of individuals are responsible for a disproportionate share of community violence. If the charges filed by prosecutors prove true, the arrest of one individual, Damien Laron McDaniel III, would be a factor in decreasing homicides in Birmingham. Initially arrested in October 2024, McDaniel has subsequently been charged with a total of 14 homicides over a 14-month period, including two 2024 mass shootings, both of which saw four people die.

The Birmingham police department and partner agencies have increased their use of focused deterrence, an approach endorsed by the Birmingham Crime Commission, a panel of community leaders and public health and safety officials convened by Mayor Randall Woodfin. In an interview with the Birmingham Times, Police Chief Michael Pickett described the formation of a Special Enforcement Division focused on high-crime areas and networks of individuals involved in violent crimes. The Division, working with federal and local partners, studies data, looks for patterns in time, geography, and among individuals, and works to interrupt those patterns.

The police department has succeeded in increasing homicide clearance rates, the rate at which a murder is followed by an arrest. By mid-year, arrests had been made in 30 of the 37 homicides from 2025.

Pickett said that community and business owners are increasingly cooperating with police by providing information. That increases the department’s ability to make arrests and allows the district attorney’s office to charge and successfully prosecute. The higher clearance rate increases community trust and encourages more communication and confidence that the information provided will be acted upon.

Beyond Enforcement

Cities across the country have increasingly recognized that improving public safety demands sustained investment in programs that interrupt patterns of violence and address the underlying community conditions. Birmingham, in conjunction with partner agencies, has launched a variety of these initiatives in the past two years.

One with a direct connection to violence is a hospital-linked violence intervention program supported by the Jefferson County Health Department and the City of Birmingham, Violence Intervention and Prevention Partners (VIP2). In recent years, public health officials have noted that violence often behaves like a contagious disease. That insight has led to the deployment of public health strategies designed to reduce violence.

A first step is to identify a population that is particularly susceptible to violent injury and intervene with education and support. Researchers have found that people admitted to the hospital with a gunshot wound are at risk of being shot again, returning to the hospital, or dying. Studies find that between 25%-40% of gunshot victims are, within a relatively short time frame, return to the hospital with another gunshot or are killed in a subsequent violent incident.

Each incident costs society. According to a study by Everytown Research & Policy, a gun safety advocacy group, on average, each nonfatal firearm injury costs taxpayers $25,250. Each firearm death costs taxpayers $273,904 in emergency response, health care, law enforcement, and criminal justice proceedings. In addition to the cost to taxpayers nd direct victims, each gunshot victim is connected to additional community members, from children and spouses, who also suffer costs.

VIP2 attempts to interrupt that cycle. Launched in October 2023, VIP2 provides support for patients admitted to UAB Hospital with gunshot wounds. Social workers with UAB’s Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery screen patients and refer willing participants to the Offender Alumni Association, which dispatches trained violence intervention specialists to the hospital.

The specialists, all of whom have had personal experience with gun violence, meet with the gunshot victim. The participants are admitted only if they commit to not retaliating against the person or group who shot them. If they do commit to participating, OAA provides an array of support, directly or through partners. Victims often face difficult physical recoveries. They are often financially devastated, facing medical bills and job loss. To avoid further violence, they may need help relocating.

OAA provides access to group therapy and mental health counseling. It also connects victims with education, job training, and job placement, and case-manages individuals in their recovery.

Since the fall of 2023, 175 individuals have participated in VIP2, with 105 currently receiving support. Only four participants have been reinjured. The Health Department and the City are cooperating to provide $1.1 million a year to support VIP2.

In addition, the City’s Office of Public Safety Initiatives is managing investments of federal and local money in violence reduction programs targeting youth, working with Birmingham City Schools, The Housing Authority, and Jefferson County Family Court and Detention Center.

The city, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, and Regions Foundation are also supporting re-entry services for individuals returning to the community after serving prison terms. The goal of the program is to help returning citizens navigate to stability and avoid recidivism.

Due to a new higher standard, the number and percentage of third graders who failed to meet the grade-level reading benchmark rose in 2025. However, taking the higher standard into account, this year’s third graders showed continued improvement, indicating that the state’s focus on improving early grades literacy is continuing to pay dividends.

This spring, 11.6% of students failed to reach the benchmark on the Reading portion of the state’s standardized test, the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP). Had the higher bar been in place in 2024, 13.7% of 3rd graders would have scored below the cut. In 2023, 20.8% of 3rd Graders would have scored below the cut.

Printable PDF available here.

In 2025, more students, 49,460, cleared the bar despite the higher standard. At the same time, more students, 6,470, fell below the reading sufficiency benchmark. The 2025 cohort of third graders is larger than previous years. That could mean more students will be required to repeat third grade. However, students who scored below the benchmark are offered intensive summer instruction, retesting, and alternative ways to qualify for promotion.

Improved performance

For the second year, the biggest gains in the percentage of third graders clearing the reading benchmark have occurred predominantly in rural school systems in the Black Belt. Those systems have high rates of economic disadvantage among students and have traditionally trailed other systems on various academic measures, but they have been making gains in reading.

This year, only 4% of Wilcox County students scored below grade level. That puts the system in the top 20 for performance, even though 91% of students in Wilcox County are economically disadvantaged.

Two systems, Orange Beach and Satsuma, had all their tested third graders reading on grade.

Breaking the Connection Between Poverty and Poor Reading Performance

While there is still a correlation between higher levels of economic disadvantage and high rates of reading struggles, the relationship has gotten weaker over time, with more high-poverty systems, particularly in rural areas, improving performance.

Other high-poverty systems, often in urban areas, are still struggling to close the gap. Large urban systems like Montgomery County and Birmingham City have higher concentrations and larger numbers of students testing below grade level. However, those systems also have magnet schools where all students achieved the reading benchmark. Within larger school systems, schools with similar demographics vary significantly when it comes to reading results.

The scatterplot chart below compares the percentage of students in the school who are below grade level on reading to the percentage of students from economically disadvantaged households. The higher on the chart a system is, the better its reading performance. The systems shaded green and lying to the right are schools with lower economic disadvantage. The size of the system’s circle corresponds to the number of third graders who failed to achieve the reading benchmark.

Schools

Despite the higher bar, in 42 schools, all third graders who were tested passed the reading benchmark. That included Princeton Elementary in the Birmingham system and three schools in the Montgomery County System: Bear Exploration Center, Macmillan International at McKee, and Forest Avenue Elementary School. The schools where all third graders met the benchmark ranged from Georgiana, where 86% of students are from economically disadvantaged households, to Mountain Brook and Crestline elementary schools, where only 2% of students are economically disadvantaged.

The two schools with the largest number of third graders who are below grade level in reading are virtual schools: the Alabama Virtual Academy at Eufaula City Schools, where 421 students, or 37%, failed to make the benchmark, and the Alabama Connections Academy of Limestone County, where 290 students, or 32% scored under the benchmark.

For Students Who Failed to Score At or Above the Benchmark

The 6,480 students who failed to reach the benchmark are in jeopardy of being required to repeat 3^rd grade, under the terms of the Alabama Literacy Act. However, there are several routes for promotion to the fourth grade.

Students who failed to clear the new reading sufficiency benchmark have access to intensive summer literacy camps sponsored by local school systems. After the intervention, they will be able to retest.

If they still fail to clear the bar, teachers and school officials have alternative means for evaluating the students’ reading skills. Other good-faith exemptions exist. In 2024, 4,808 students failed to pass the reading sufficiency benchmark. After retesting and applying exemptions, only 452 students were retained due to the Literacy Act, according to the Alabama Daily News reporting.

Second Grade Results

Also included in the data release were second-grade results. The cut score also went up for second grade. The second-grade score is intentionally set at a higher threshold so that more students who might be encountering reading struggles can be identified and receive intervention. Due to the higher bar, more students failed to meet the grade level sufficiency benchmark, 19% in 2025 compared to 17% in 2024. The 10,423 second-grade students who scored below the benchmark were encouraged to attend summer literacy camps and should receive special attention throughout their third-grade year.

Background

The intense interest in 3rd-grade reading is the result of the 2019 Literacy Act. The Act was modeled on similar legislation enacted in Florida and Mississippi. Both of those states saw large gains in reading performance on national standardized tests. The laws are based on the premise that students have to be reading on grade level by fourth grade. Students are taught to read from Kindergarten through third grade. In fourth grade, students are expected to read material to learn.

Numerous studies have found that students who aren’t reading on grade level by fourth grade are more likely to struggle academically and fail to complete high school. Low literacy skills are associated with difficulties in the job market and poor health outcomes.

While the Literacy Act’s grade retention provision received attention, the more consequential portions of the bill were its increased investment in improving literacy instruction, early screening for reading difficulties, and requirements for interventions and communication with parents. The Act re-energized the Alabama Reading Initiative and led to statewide training of teachers in techniques grounded in the science of reading.

Since implementation, Alabama has seen various measures of reading performance rise. Alabama is one of only two states (Louisiana is the other) in which 4th-grade students are performing better in reading than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP).  

Alabama’s public high school graduation rate tied its all-time high in 2024, while the Class of 2024 also set a new record for the percentage of graduates designated ready for college and career, according to new data released by the Alabama Department of Education.

Among 2024’s senior class, 88% had earned a college and career-ready (CCR) designation, a jump of 4 percentage points over the rate for the Class of 2023. That progress also narrows the gap between the graduation and CCR rates to 4 percentage points, the smallest gap ever.

Printable PDF available here.

Alabama’s high school graduation rate has been rising since 2012, when the state set a goal that 90% of ninth graders would persist and graduate four years later. As the state’s public schools made progress toward and ultimately achieved that goal, policymakers focused on the gap between the graduation and CCR rates. Though more students were graduating, many weren’t leaving with the credentials to prove they were ready to enter college or the workforce.

In 2023, the Alabama Legislature passed a law requiring that by Spring of 2026, all graduates will have to have earned a CCR designation in order to receive a diploma. Schools have been moving toward that goal. In 2024, over 50 high schools reported a 100% graduation rate, and more than 40 reported a 100% college and career readiness rate.

Multiple Ways to Demonstrate College and Career Readiness

The Class of 2024 produced a jump in the on-time graduation rate and in multiple categories of college and career readiness.

School systems and high schools have different approaches to providing students with pathways to the CCR designation. Academic magnet schools and affluent suburban systems have higher percentages of students scoring college-ready on the ACT or by earning a qualifying score (3 or above) on an Advanced Placement test. Advanced Placement (AP) courses are college-level courses taught by high school faculty. International Baccalaureate (IB) courses are similar and also count toward CCR. Other schools, usually cooperating with the local community college, may give most students access to college courses. Many schools encourage enrollment in career technical education courses and reach over 90 percent of students through such offerings. Successful entry into the military and completing an approved youth apprenticeship is also an option.

Career Technical Education

More students are participating in career technical education courses, high school courses linked to career skills and training. The number and percentage of students demonstrating college and career readiness through completing a course in career technical education and earning an industry-recognized credential rose to 24,535, up from 21,640 in 2023. In the class of 2024, 47% of students earned a credential that should be recognized as valuable to a prospective employer, a 6-percentage point increase. 

Dual Enrollment

The number and percentage of students earning college credit, mostly through dual enrollment at a community college, also rose substantially from 21% of students in 2023 to 26% for the Class of 2024. Statewide, 13,891 students had earned credit through successfully completing a college course during high school, an increase of over 2,500 from the Class of 2023.

ACT

The percentage of Alabama public high school graduates earning a benchmark score on the ACT rose to 42%, up from 40% in 2023. ACT, the standardized test that predicts student readiness for college-level coursework, is given to all high school juniors. Scores in Alabama and nationwide dropped during and following the pandemic. In Alabama, performance is improving, though still below pre-pandemic highs. A full exploration of the Alabama ACT scores can be accessed in PARCA’s previous post, Alabama High School Class of 2024 Improves on ACT.

WorkKeys

ACT also produces a second standardized test, WorkKeys, through which students can demonstrate college and career readiness. WorkKeys is designed to test reading and math skills as they are applied in the workplace. WorkKeys is given to seniors and is optional. Students who score high enough on WorkKeys to earn a silver, gold, or platinum certification are considered adequately prepared to enter the workforce.

Some employers use WorkKeys as a factor in hiring decisions. The visualization below allows you to explore WorkKeys results in terms of certificates earned and trends in the number of students tested. However, bear in mind that different schools use the test differently and give it selectively, so comparisons between schools and systems can be misleading.

Explore Further

Using the tabs and menus in the visualization tools, you can explore results for your local system or school. For best results, use the full screen option to display the visualization. That button can be found on the bottom right of the visualization, next to the share button.

Bear in mind that some schools may have college—and career-ready rates that exceed graduation rates. This occurs when more seniors achieve one of the measures of college and career readiness than earn a diploma.

New population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau place Mobile as the state’s second-largest city, behind booming Huntsville and ahead of Birmingham and Montgomery, both of which saw population declines according to the most recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Mobile’s new status takes into account the city’s 2023 annexations of neighborhoods in Mobile County that were expected to add about 20,000 to the city’s population. According to revised Census estimates, the city jumped from less than 190,000 before 2020 to almost 210,000, pushing it well ahead of Birmingham which, for 2024, had an estimated population of 196,818.

Printable PDF available here.

However, despite its annexation bump, Census estimates show Mobile is still losing population, dropping by over 500 over the past year to an estimated 201,367. Birmingham and Montgomery are also continuing to see population declines. If current trends prevail, the three cities seem destined to continue jockeying back and forth. Currently, the population estimates have Birmingham in third, just in front of Montgomery, at 195,818.

The biggest surprise of the estimates was the small Jefferson County hamlet of Brookside, which had the highest population growth rate of any municipality in the state at 13.2%. The town added 158 residents, bringing its total to 1,357 residents. The town has a new neighborhood under construction that appears to be drawing new residents. Small towns and cities around Huntsville and in Shelby and St. Clair counties, outside of Birmingham, saw higher rates of growth in percentage terms, as did suburban cities around Montgomery. Small towns in Wiregrass surrounding Dothan and Enterprise also showed growth in percentage terms. And several Baldwin County communities ranked near the top in terms of percentage growth.

In terms of growth in numbers, the city of Huntsville is the state champ, drawing in another 4,174 new residents in 2024. The City of Madison, Huntsville’s suburban neighbor, added 3,007, ranking third in the state in numeric growth, and Athens, which also borders Huntsville, added 1,641, ranking fourth.

The City of Foley in Baldwin County grew by 3,012, ranking second in the state in numeric terms and tying for second in percentage growth at 12%. Foley’s fellow Baldwin County city of Loxley also grew 12%. Fairhope added 1,011 according to the estimates, ranking 8th in the state. Gulf Shores and Daphne also ranked in the state’s top 20 in the number of residents added.

Cross state rivals Tuscaloosa and Auburn continue to grow with Auburn adding 1,310 to edge out Tuscaloosa’s gain of 1,272 new residents. Auburn also has the secret weapon of Opelika next door, which added 1,313 new residents in 2024. That far outpaces Northport which grew by 280. Together, Tuscaloosa and Northport have about 150,00 residents compared to Auburn and Opelika’s 120,000.

The sharp drop in overdose deaths in 2024, both nationally and in Jefferson County, wasn’t an accident, according to members of the task force that works to combat the epidemic of drug-related deaths. Instead, it resulted from public policy changes and the geographically targeted deployment of resources.

Figure 1. Trends in Accidental Drug and Opioid Overdose Deaths in Jefferson County, 2012-2024. Source: Jefferson County Coroner’s Office data.

Printable PDF available here.

Thanks to those interventions, Jefferson County saw its first decline in overdose deaths since 2018. According to data from the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, drug overdose deaths peaked in the county in 2023, with 483 accidental drug-related deaths. That is more than double the number of people who died by homicide (197) in Jefferson County in 2023. And it is more than triple the number of overdose deaths Jefferson County experienced in 2012.

Accidental overdose deaths from opioids began rising in the 1990s with the proliferation of prescription pills. That was followed by a resurgence in heroin use, which was in turn followed by the arrival of fentanyl, an extremely potent synthetic opioid. Beginning in 2020, traffic fentanyl surged into Jefferson County, resulting in a skyrocketing death toll from overdoses.

In Jefferson County, the arrival of fentanyl hit the Black community especially hard. Historically, White deaths from drug overdoses had greatly outnumbered Blacks. But by 2023, Black overdose deaths eclipsed whites.

Figure 2. Trends in Overdose Deaths By Race, Jefferson County. Source: Jefferson County Coroner’s Office data.

Health officials nationally and in Alabama have been working to catch up with the epidemic. In 2017, Governor Kay Ivey established the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council, which pulled together the state departments of Public Health and Mental Health, local health providers, and a broad coalition of health care providers, drug treatment non-profits, and first responders. Much of the coordinating and data-gathering work has been funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its Overdose Data to Action grant program. According to the CDC, factors driving the decline in overdose deaths include the “widespread, data-driven distribution of naloxone, which is a life-saving medication that can reverse an overdose; better access to evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders; shifts in the illegal drug supply; a resumption of prevention and response after pandemic-related disruptions; and continued investments in prevention and response programs like CDC’s flagship Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) program.”

OD2A funding to the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Jefferson County Department of Health has supported the creation of a data-gathering and sharing program that is providing real-time information about where overdoses are occurring. Emergency medical services providers and hospitals are reporting overdose encounters as they happen, allowing public health officials to zero in on communities and even specific neighborhoods where overdoses are on the rise. Jefferson County’s Health Department has worked with the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, health care providers, and researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and other local agencies to gather, analyze, and act on the data.

With the data mapped and analyzed, partners from the healthcare and treatment community, first responders, and public health officials routinely meet to discuss patterns and develop a concerted approach to overdose prevention. Figure 3 shows the concentration of overdose deaths by zip code, for the peak year, 2023. Using the slider and directional arrows, you can cycle through years of data to see the rising numbers and shifting geographic concentration.

Figure 3. Mapping Overdose Deaths By Zip Code, by Year. Source: Jefferson County Coroner’s Office data.

Policy changes identified and lobbied for by the Overdose and Addiction Council set the stage for the interventions that appear to be driving down deaths. First, in June of 2022, the Alabama Legislature decriminalized Fentanyl test strips. Before the change, the strips that allow the detection of potentially fatal levels of the drug were considered drug paraphernalia, discouraging their availability and use.  Then, in March 2023, naloxone was made an over-the-counter medication, increasing access to the overdose-reversing treatment and allowing for distribution in the community.

In the wake of the changes and with an influx of funding from both federal and state opioid settlement money, a coalition of groups pushed out resources and training to make the life-saving resources available. The Alabama Department of Mental Health significantly increased naloxone distribution, distributing 46,482 kits at Back-to-School events, End Addiction Walks, and conferences and trainings for treatment providers serving high-risk individuals, local and rural law enforcement officers, and first responders. JCDH has an online Naloxone education portal on its website, www.jcdh.org, and sends Naloxone Kits and Fentanyl Test Strips by mail at no cost to people who request the kits through the website. In addition, JCDH provides both products through dispensing boxes at its health centers and at distribution boxes in other community locations.  JCDH also partners with local EMS, police, fire and rescue, and some independent pharmacies to provide the supplies as well.

Using Jefferson County Coroner’s data, the Jefferson County Health Department identified particular neighborhoods where overdose deaths were on the rise. To counter the trend, the department found avenues to distribute free Naloxone and Fentanyl test strips. They also launched public information campaigns, advertising the dangers of the drugs and resources for treatment services, in some cases, displaying the messages on the public transit buses that served the affected areas.

Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. David Hicks applauded the cooperation and the progress but stressed the need to sustain the effort.

“As we continue to address the challenges posed by overdose deaths in our community, it is crucial to recognize the progress we have made and the work that still lies ahead,” Hicks said. “Our collective efforts in prevention, education, and treatment are making a difference, but we must remain vigilant and committed to saving lives. Together, we can build a healthier and safer Jefferson County.”

PARCA is involved in an effort to encourage similar efforts to share, analyze, and act on data. The Birmingham-Jefferson County Justice Governance Partnership brings together county government, municipalities, multiple law enforcement agencies, schools, health providers, non-profits, and community groups to develop a common understanding and cooperative solutions to community challenges. For more information, visit the BJC-JGP website.

According to the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Jefferson and Mobile counties grew, and Montgomery narrowed its population losses in 2024 thanks to an increase in international migration. International immigration also padded growth in Madison and Baldwin Counties, though growth there was largely driven by domestic migration—new residents moving in from other counties and states.

Printable PDF available here

The latest Census Bureau data provides population estimates for counties and metropolitan areas as of July 1, 2024, and includes underlying estimates of net change due to births, deaths, and movement of residents between counties, states, and other countries. A PARCA analysis of the data finds that:

• Considering births, deaths, and both domestic and international migration, 41 of 67 Alabama counties saw population growth.
• In 54 of Alabama’s 67 counties, deaths exceeded births.
• 26 counties lost population, all rural and mostly in Central Alabama’s Black Belt.
• 42 counties experienced a net gain of residents moving in from other counties or other states.
• 60 counties saw net positive growth from international migration.
• Without that international inflow, 30 of Alabama’s 67 counties would have lost population in 2024.

Natural change, births vs. deaths, provides a backdrop for population growth or decline, and in most Alabama counties, natural change has been negative for several years now. That trend began during the Covid-19 pandemic, but continues, though to a lesser degree. As the large Baby Boom generation ages and experiences higher rates of mortality, the number of deaths increases. Meanwhile, younger generations are having fewer children. The two factors combined create a backdrop of population decline through natural change.

There are exceptions. Fifteen counties are still gaining population through natural increase. Those counties tend to be those where young people make up a disproportionate share of the population: suburban counties and counties with universities. Counties with high percentages of Hispanic residents, like Marshall and Franklin counties, tend to have higher birth rates, offsetting the high death rates typical of rural counties.

High Growth Counties

The two Alabama counties that saw the most population growth—Madison, home to Huntsville, and coastal Baldwin County—each saw more than 6,500 additional residents move in from other counties or states while also drawing some international migrants.

Limestone, the fastest-growing county in percentage terms, added over 4,000 residents through domestic migration but added very few international migrants.

Lee County drew evenly from both sources, adding about 1,500 residents from other counties or states and a similar amount from abroad. Rounding out the top five, Shelby County added from both sources as well, with an estimated 950 net international arrivals and 720 new residents from other counties and states.

Migration

Alabama has continued net positive growth from domestic migration people moving in from other states. Within the state, domestic migration was positive in all counties bordering Tennessee and Florida, and in nine of 11 counties bordering Georgia. Meanwhile, only three of the 10 counties bordering Mississippi experienced a net gain.

Central counties of the larger metropolitan areas tend to see an outflow of population to the surrounding suburban counties. This is true for Jefferson, Montgomery, and Mobile counties. For all three of those countries, an increase in international immigration helped offset those domestic losses.

Metro Areas

All of the state’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) experienced positive population growth. MSAs are counties or groups of counties in which the economies are connected through employment and commuting patterns. The Birmingham MSA’s population increased by over 6,000 residents to nearly 1.2 million. That’s the strongest growth in several years. Over half of those net new residents were the result of international immigration.

Nationally, international immigration was the largest driver of population increase in large metropolitan areas like New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Houston, and Dallas. However, border crossings dropped sharply in the first part of 2024 and have continued to decline. If trends hold, international in-migration will diminish as a factor driving population change in subsequent years.

Alabama’s 2024 high school graduates posted improved performance on the ACT compared to prior years, continuing a positive trend at a time when scores have continued to drift down nationally. The ACT is a standardized test designed to measure a student’s readiness to succeed academically in college.

Printable PDF available here.

Nationally, the composite score was down again and so were scores in all four subjects. Though Alabama’s improvement was slight, it was across the board applying to the four tested subjects.

The percentage of Alabama students achieving benchmark scores also moved up in all four subjects and the percentage of students that benchmarked in all four subjects increased as well. ACT data from prior graduating classes shows that 84% of students who have met all four benchmarks graduate with postsecondary degrees within six years.

In Alabama, the composite scores for Asians, Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics all ticked up. Economically disadvantaged students posted improved scores, as well. One exception to the upward trend was a decrease in the percentage of nonpoverty students achieving the benchmark in English, from 60.2% to 59.6%. Economically disadvantaged students improved in English by 27%, exceeding the benchmark in English, which was 25.3% in 2023.

Still, scores are still well behind where they were pre-pandemic. And both in the state and nationally, scores are well behind 2017, which was the peak of performance. Some academic research links the decline to lingering effects of the Great Recession, which led to cuts in education spending. ACT scores peaked in 2007.

The national average composite score was 19.4 in 2024 (down from 19.5 in 2023). That’s higher than Alabama’s public school average of 17.85. However, the two scores should not be compared. Alabama is one of 9 states that tests all high school students, whether they are college-bound or not. In much of the country, only students applying to a four-year college take the ACT. Despite progress, Alabama high school graduates still have room to improve compared to other states where a comparable percentage of students are tested.

Alabama gives the test to all high school juniors. It serves as a gauge of academic performance for schools. Students who earn a benchmark score in at least one of the four subjects qualify as college—and career-ready, one of ten options for achieving that designation. Students must meet one of those ten college—and career-readiness markers in order to graduate.

During the pandemic, the number of test takers dropped, and the importance of the ACT was somewhat diminished as many schools made the test-optional for admission. However, more recently, many colleges have returned to requiring the test.

Using the tabs and menus, you can explore the data in various ways, including comparing system and school-level results. It’s important to remember that ACT scores tend to correlate with economic advantages and disadvantages. The scatterplot chart below arrays systems by the percentage of economically disadvantaged students from the left to right. The systems with the lowest percentages of economically disadvantaged students are on the right. Systems are positioned vertically based on their average composite score. The higher the circle, the higher the score. The line that slants up from left to right traces a correlation between test scores that rise as the percentage of economic disadvantage declines. The size of each system’s circle represents the enrollment of the system.

When systems are clustered close along that line, that indicates there is a strong correlation between the two values. Systems that fall above the line of prediction are exceeding expectations. An example is the Piedmont City School system. In 2024, 65% of students in that system qualified for a free school lunch due to their family income level. And yet the average scale score for Piedmont students far exceeded many school systems where economic disadvantage rates are lower.

Alabama public school fourth graders are scoring higher in both reading and math than they did prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Alabama and Louisiana are the only two states where that is true, according to an analysis of the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

Printable PDF available here.

In fact, in both reading and math, Alabama fourth graders scored close to the national average in 2024. That’s a remarkable turnaround from 2019, when Alabama 4th graders ranked at or near the bottom in both subjects. Only three states posted more improvement in 4th-grade math than Alabama in 2024.

Alabama has shown more growth in 4^th grade math than any other state since 2019. The vast majority of states have lost ground. Alabama and Louisiana are the only states in which 4th-grade reading performance is higher than in 2019.

NAEP scores are based on standardized tests taken by a sample of students in every state. NAEP scores are known as the nation’s report card. In 2024, Alabama 4^th graders’ performance ranked 33^rd in reading and 31^st in math.

Alabama has made large and targeted investments in early grades reading and math instruction, retraining teachers in research-based instructional techniques, stocking schools with dedicated reading and math coaches, and sending higher levels of support and resources to schools that have struggled academically. Results indicate that the investments may be paying off. Considering the timing and nature of the investment, results should continue to improve if results are sustained. The state is still increasing the percentage of its elementary teachers and administrators who have received reading instruction training. Additionally, the Alabama Literacy Act has highlighted the importance of learning to read since students are required to have demonstrated grade-level reading in order to be promoted to fourth grade. In Math, waves of instructional coaches authorized by the Alabama Numeracy Act continue to be trained and deployed.

The NAEP news is not all positive. Alabama’s progress toward the national average is partly due to declining performance in other states. The national average scale score is down in both subjects and both grades compared to 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2024, scores were down again, except for 4th-grade math, where there was an improvement nationally.

8th Grade Results

For 8th grade, the news was not good for the nation or for Alabama. And Alabama 8^th graders fared poorly, performing worse in 2024 in both subjects. Compared to other states, Alabama 8th graders ranked No. 46 in reading and 48 in math.

In both reading and math Alabama 8^th graders are scoring lower than Alabama 8^th graders did in the early years of the 21^st Century, giving up gains that had been made over the past decade.

Alabama still trails most Southeastern states in both subjects and both grades. That includes Mississippi, where students outscored Alabama students in both grades and both subjects.

According to the 4th grade results, Alabama made gains not only in the percentage of students reaching the basic level and the proficient level but also in the percentage of students scoring at the advanced level.

Unfortunately, the trend is running in the opposite direction for 8th graders, with smaller percentages of students scoring at the proficient or advanced level.

Nationally and in Alabama, there remains a stubborn score gap between racial and ethnic subgroups of students. Among Alabama fourth graders, white students exceeded the national average for the first time in both subjects. Black fourth graders are also closing the gap with the national average for black students in both subjects. Hispanic students made gains toward the national Hispanic average in math but saw a drop in reading performance.

Using the menu options, you can explore the data further, toggling between grades and subjects to examine changes by year in Alabama and other states and relative ranks among states.