Reading scores stalled under 'No Child' law
The nation's students are mired at a basic level of reading in fourth and eighth grades, their achievement in recent years largely stagnant, according to a federal report Wednesday that suggests a dwindling academic payoff from the landmark No Child Left Behind law.
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — The nation's students are mired at a basic level of reading in fourth and eighth grades, their achievement in recent years largely stagnant, according to a federal report Wednesday that suggests a dwindling academic payoff from the landmark No Child Left Behind law.
The report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) showed that fourth-grade reading scores stalled after the law took effect in 2002, rose modestly in 2007 and stalled again in 2009. Eighth-grade scores showed a slight uptick since 2007 — 1 point on a scale of 500 — but no gain over the seven-year span when President George W. Bush's program for education overhaul was in high gear.
Only in Kentucky did reading scores rise significantly in both grades from 2007 to 2009.
Nationally, the public average for fourth-grade-reading scores remained 220 on the 500-point scale in 2009. The national average for eighth-grade-reading scores was 262.
Washington state's scores remained about the same from 2007 to 2009. The average score for fourth-graders was 221 in 2009; in 2007, it was 224. The average score for the state's eighth-graders was 267 in 2009; in
Bellevue School District grapples with budget crisis
With a quartet of high-school sports in jeopardy, and elementary-school librarians and band and art teachers on the chopping block, about 300 parents and students jammed into Interlake High School's performing-arts center Wednesday night to brainstorm about less painful ways to tackle a looming budget crisis in Bellevue public-school programs.