Student Test Scores Slip

Washington continues to beat the national average in every age and subject category of the National Assessment of Education Progress, commonly known as the Nation’s Report Card. Last year, Tennessee had the most amount of growth in the state. In statewide results from the NAEP, Michigan fourth- and eighth-graders remained below the national average in math and reading.

Maryland had been making slow, steady progress for almost the past two decades on the tests – until this year.

“While these scores clearly indicate that Detroit Public Schools still has much work to do to improve student outcomes in reading and math, we are pleased that the scores appear to be leveling out”, she said.

Two years ago, 45 percent of Maryland fourth-graders passed the reading test. This year, that fell to 37 percent.

William Bushaw, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees federal testing, speculated that rapid curriculum changes might have contributed to a temporary drop in scores.

State Superintendent Richard Ross and Gordon credited the state and district paying greater attention to early reading skills, largely because of Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee, for the district’s large gain on 4 grade reading scores.

State officials have warned that scores are likely to fall sharply then, in line with what has happened in other states that have administered Common Core-aligned exams.

Prior to PARCC, the NAEP assessment was considered the most rigorous and reliable gauge of their academic performance. The biggest drops were in math, with average fourth-grade math scores at 242, down from 246, and average eighth-grade scores at 285, down from 289.

Forty percent of fourth-graders and 33 percent of eighth-grade students scored proficient on the NAEP math exam. In reading, 36 percent of fourth-graders and 34 percent of eighth-graders scored proficient.

NAEP officials said although declines were not expected, particularly in math, they were not cause for alarm. It is a congressionally authorized project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education through the National Center for Education Statistics.

Duncan echoed Carr’s sentiments.

“We are showing growth where others are showing loss”, Gordon said. But Tennessee failed to hold onto that lead by the eighth grade, with just 29 percent of students proficient in math compared with 32 percent across the nation. “They should be commended for that, not criticized”. “Years ago, I’m not sure people would have thought that was possible”, she said.

But Tennessee’s slight gains since 2013 were not statistically significant, and state officials later said it was not appropriate to describe the state as having higher scores.

In eighth-grade reading, Los Angeles’ low-income students have increased their scores faster than students in any other district that have reported results since 2003, growing 16 points.

Former Baltimore city schools CEO Andres Alonso made a decision to have the district join TUDA so city students could be measured against peers in districts of similar size and demographics. Even Cleveland saw increases, including a 7-point jump in fourth-grade reading. At the eighth-grade level, reading improved only in West Virginia, up three points from 2013.

– The percentage of students considered “proficient” through NAEP in Cleveland is only a third of the national rate and less than half the rate of other urban districts. Eighth-grade reading scores also declined, to 265 from 268 of a possible 500 points.

In 2013, 19 percent of fourth-graders scored proficient in math, and 13 percent of eighth-graders did.