Christmas WS's!The nation’s report card is out and it’s showing some modest improvement. In the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam, math scores were up slightly compared to two years ago for both fourth and eighth graders. Eighth graders also inched up in reading, but fourth graders showed a flat reading score.
The progress has been far slower in reading than in math. Students in grade four showed no improvement since 2009, and their scores were just four points higher than in 1992. (Eighth-grade scores were one point higher than in 2009 and five points higher than in 1992.) In math, the average math score for fourth graders was 241 on a 500-point scale – 28 points higher than in 1990 and 1 point higher than in 2009. Students at all percentiles except the lowest one increased.
In a statement reported in the Christian Science Monitor, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said: “The modest increases in NAEP scores are reason for concern as much as optimism. It’s clear that achievement is not accelerating fast enough for our nation’s children to compete in the knowledge economy of the 21st Century.”
At that same event, Doris Hicks, a member of the governing board and principal of a New Orleans charter school, spoke about the reading results: “We need to emphasize higher-order thinking skills when it comes to reading,” Ms. Hicks said, pushing comprehension over simple regurgitation. "Another key is taking a holistic approach,” including involving families, she added.
