NEA President: NAEP Results Signal What Needs to Change to Better Serve Students
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—known as The Nation’s Report Card—was released on Wednesday and the results caused a stir in the education community. Overall, students’ math and reading scores dropped or remained stagnant. The results, said National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García, should compel policymakers at every level of government to make the necessary changes to better serve students now and in the future.
The NAEP results revealed that between 2013 and 2015, math scores for fourth and eighth grade students declined. This year’s average fourth grade score in math was 240, a two-point drop compared to two years ago. The eight grade math score fell from 285 to 282.
In reading, the eighth grade scores dropped by three points, from 288 to 265, while the fourth grade reading score remained virtually unchanged.
Student performance was also measured by achievement in three categories: basic, proficient, and advanced. Students reaching proficiency demonstrate mastery over a subject area. In math, there was a two-point decline in the percentage of fourth and eighth graders scoring at or above proficient. In reading, the percentage of fourth grade students scoring at or above proficient didn’t change significantly, and the percentage of eighth graders scoring at or above proficient declined by two points.
“The recent release of the NAEP scores once again demonstrates what educators have said all along. The effectiveness of a system cannot be judged by a single test score. Scores should be viewed in context, over time and, just because a single test scores goes down (or up) it does not represent the complexity of the system or mean good things are not happening,” García said.
García cited several examples of the good news in education. “High school graduation rates have increased, the drop-out rate for Hispanic students has decreased and the number of minority students going to college has been rising. We are more focused than ever on closing the opportunity gaps. The opportunity to learn is the foundation of everything. The NAEP scores are just another piece of the puzzle that provides information we need to ensure all students succeed.”
A main piece to this “puzzle” includes the effect of poverty, with more than half of the nation’s public school children living in poverty. García underscored that the NEA President: NAEP Results Signal What Needs to Change to Better Serve Students - NEA Today:
