State 8th-graders gain on U.S. reading test
4th-graders stagnant but hit the ’13 average; math scores about same as in ’11
Reading and math scores earned by Arkansas fourth-graders and the math score earned by eighth-graders on a 2013 national exam are no better statistically than scores earned in 2011, according to results released Thursday.
But the reading score for Arkansas fourth-graders taking the National Assessment of Educational Progress was at the national average.
And the eighth-grade reading score showed an increase of 3 points over the 2011 state results on the exam known as “The Nation’s Report Card.”
About 2,700 Arkansas pupils in 160 of the state’s 238 school districts participated in the 2013 administration of the national test this past January through March. The National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading and math is given every other year to a representative sample of fourth- and eighth-graders in each state, the District of Columbia and Department of Defense schools.
Arkansas Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell on Thursday highlighted Arkansas eighth-grade reading performance and attributed it to the hard work of teachers.
“There is still work to do, though, as we strive to increase our scores among other states in the nation,” Kimbrell said.
Arkansas is one of 14 states to raise its eighth-grade reading-score average since 2011. Arkansas students earned an average score of 262, up from 259 in 2011. Despite the improvement, the reading score is below the national average, which increased from 264 to 266 this year.
Results from the National
Assessment of Educational Progress — the only exam given in all 50 states — are used by policymakers and educators as an informal gauge of a state’s own tests, such as the annual Arkansas Benchmark and End-of-Course exams that are also in reading and math but are tied directly to the state’s education standards.
Nationally, more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders participated in the math or reading exams given in March through January. There were statistically significant gains in fourth-grade math and in eighth-grade reading and math.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was pleased by improvements in eighth-grade reading on the national level, calling them “heartening,” after a decade of stagnant scores.
Duncan pointed out that the national gains come at a time when most of the states are shifting to the use of a new, common set of education standards in math and English-language arts and are preparing for new exams based on the standards.
“Given the rapid and comprehensive changes that America’s educators are implementing in classrooms across the nation, it is to their credit that we are seeing the strongest performance in the history of the NAEP,” Duncan said in prepared remarks about the results.
In Arkansas, a third or a little better of fourth-grade test-takers scored at proficient or advanced levels on the math and reading tests, meaning those pupils demonstrated competent mastery or exemplary mastery of challenging academic material.
The percentages of eighth-graders scoring at proficient or advanced levels was slightly lower, with 28 percent being proficient or advanced in math and 30 percent in reading.
While Arkansas pupils didn’t make statistically significant gains on the fourthgrade math and reading tests, the average scores moved upward.
The fourth-grade reading score went from 217 to 219 on a 0-to-500 scale, compared with the national average of 221 for this year.
Twenty-five percent of fourth-graders scored at a proficient level on the test, and 7 percent scored at an advanced level. In 2011, 24 percent were proficient and 6 percent advanced.
The fourth-grade math score went from 238 to 240, with the 2013 national average being 241.
Thirty-four percent of Arkansas fourth-graders scored at proficient levels in math, and 5 percent scored at advanced levels. In 2011, 33 percent were proficient, and 4 percent were advanced.
The gap between the state and nation widened in eighth-grade math. Arkansas’ eighth-graders went from 279 in 2011 to 278 this year, while the national average went from 283 to 284.
Twenty-three percent of the state’s eighth-grade mathtest takers scored at proficient, and 5 percent scored at advanced in 2013. That compared to 24 percent proficient and 5 percent advanced in 2011.
In eighth-grade reading, 30 percent of the Arkansas test-takers scored at proficient or advanced levels in 2012, compared to 28 percent in 2011.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress results — available online at http://nationsreportcard.gov — go into detail about the performance of students by race and ethnic group, gender and family income.
In Arkansas, the achievement gap between black and white students had not significantly narrowed since the mid- to late 1990s, when the demographic baseline was established for the tests. Nor has the achievement gap narrowed between students who qualify for subsidized school meals on the basis of low family income and those who don’t qualify.
In fourth-grade reading, for example, 46 percent of white Arkansas pupils scored at proficient or better levels, as compared to 17 percent of black pupils and 29 percent of Hispanic pupils.
Twenty-five percent of the fourth-grade test-takers eligible for subsidized school meals scored at proficient or better levels, while 58 percent of students from more affluent families scored at proficient or better levels.
Top performing states in the nation on the exams included Massachusetts, which had the top average score in all four tested areas. New Hampshire tied for first or second place in three of the tested areas. New Jersey was second or tied for second in two tested areas.
Minnesota, Maryland and Vermont were other high-performing states.
Top gainers in the nation included Tennessee and Washington, D.C. The 2013 scores in fourth- and eighth-grade mathematics and fourth- and eighth-grade reading in those jurisdictions improved anywhere from 4 to 7 points over 2011 results. Others that made notable gains include Hawaii, Indiana, California and Washington.
David Driscoll, chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for the exam, said he was encouraged by the national results that showed greater percentages of students scoring at proficient and advanced levels.
“Even though the gains since 2011 are modest, some states have notable improvement, and over time all of these improvements add up to higher achievement overall,” Driscoll said in a statement that accompanied the national release of the results.
Nationally, the 2013 average scores for fourth- and eighth-grade math each increased a statistically significant 1 point over the average scores in 2011, when the tests were last given. The average math score for fourth-graders was 241 and for eighth graders, 284.
In reading, the average 221 earned by fourth-graders showed little change compared with the 2011 results of 220.
Eighth-graders, however, scored 2 points higher on the reading test in 2013 than in 2011, going from 264 to 266.
“Our nation’s eighth-graders are performing at the highest level ever in both mathematics and reading,” Jack Buckley, commissioner for the National Center for Education Statistics, said about the results.