> Looking at the history this doesn’t seem abnormal, and it hovers around 49%. Notice that the "historical data" goes all the way back to... 2014-2015. I'd pu

> Looking at the history this doesn’t seem abnormal, and it hovers around 49%. Notice that the "historical data" goes all the way back to... 2014-2015. I'd put money on this percentage being significantly higher 20, 30+ years ago. > This implies to me median is determined to be grade level (essentially) and it hasn’t moved materially beyond this point since the data was compiled and the entirely arbitrary definition of “grade level” was declared. You may be both overthinking this and not understanding. The phrases "can read at grade level" or "can perform math at grade level" mean that a student can read/grasp mathematical concepts at the level expected of a normal person at the age equivalent to their grade (e.g., "can read at a 5th grade level" means "can read to the extent that is considered competent for a ten year old by educational standards"). The goal is for _100%_ of kids in a given grade level to be able to read/comprehend what is taught to them.