it’s disingenuous to define them as red areas, as that implies politics come into play. The fact is that demographics are why impact the test scores:
The demographics of Southern states can influence education test scores, as demographic factors such as race, socioeconomic status, and parental education levels often correlate with academic performance. Research consistently shows that these variables play a significant role in shaping standardized test outcomes, including scores on assessments like the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
In the Southern United States, states often have higher proportions of Black and Hispanic students compared to other regions. For example, states like Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama have large Black populations, while Texas has a substantial Hispanic population. These groups, on average, tend to score lower on standardized tests than their White counterparts, a pattern observed nationally. This can be attributed to a variety of out-of-school factors, such as poverty, limited access to early childhood education, fatherless homes and lower median family incomes, which are more prevalent in some Southern states. For instance, Mississippi and Louisiana rank among the poorest states in the U.S., and poverty is a strong predictor of lower test scores.
