Posted on 10/19/2005 5:47:12 PM PDT by TaxRelief
RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina students had a little trouble with their reading skills, with scores on achievement tests dropping slightly in a national measure of student performance released Wednesday.
Nearly 40 percent of fourth-graders and 31 percent of eighth-graders performed below a basic level of proficiency in reading, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP.
But math scores held steady for both grade groups, and the North Carolina students generally performed at or slightly better than the national average in both subjects.
"The trendline for North Carolina students is positive in mathematics. This year we held the very strong gains that we have made over the past decade," State Superintendent June Atkinson said. "However, the NAEP reading scores show us that we have work to do. ... Reading should be a focus of every family, every school and every community."
The biennial NAEP test is considered the best benchmark of progress over time and across the country. It assesses mathematics and reading in several areas, converting performance into a scale that ranges from 0 to 500.
North Carolina students have taken the test for more than a decade, but the 2003 report was the first to include results from all 50 states. The U.S. Education Department required participation that year since the test is now used to gauge the rigor of education in the states.
This year, North Carolina fourth-graders did better than the national average in mathematics, scoring an average of 241 points to the nationwide average of 237, and equaled the nationwide average score of 217 in reading.
But it was a slight drop from the state's 2003 results, when the students scored an average of 242 points in math and 221 in reading.
The percentage of fourth-grade students who performed at or above basic proficiency also dipped in both subjects, from 85 percent in 2003 to 83 percent in 2005 in math, and from 66 percent to 62 percent in reading -- where 38 percent performed below the basic skill level.
North Carolina's eighth-grade students held steady in mathematics, raising their average score one point from 281 to 282, and maintaining a 72 percent average of students who performed at or above basic proficiency in the subject. They, too, beat the nationwide average math score of 278 points.
But like their younger counterparts, they struggled a bit in reading, dropping their average score from 262 points in 2003 to 258 this year -- two points below the national average score. Only 69 percent reached basic proficiency or better, down from 72 percent in 2003 and below this year's national average of 71 percent.
The state has been working on helping students improve their reading, said Howard Lee, chairman of the State Board of Education.
"We began an aggressive reading strategy through Reading First two years ago in nearly 100 elementary schools with low reading achievement across the state," Lee said. "These efforts, which involve students in the early grades, will show up on NAEP measures in future years, and will give us a roadmap for expanding this approach to providing professional development, building leadership and strengthening reading instruction in more schools in our state."
Within the state, math scores were again statistically even among males and females in both age groups, while North Carolina girls outstripped the boys in reading. Fourth-grade girls scored an average of 8 points higher in reading than the boys, while the eighth-graders had a 15-point gender gap.
Low-income students -- defined as those who receive free or reduced-price lunches -- continued to lag 22 to 27 points behind their peers in both grades and subjects.
The data also showed a lingering performance gap between white and minority students, with whites scoring 21 to 27 points better than black students and 11 to 27 points better than Hispanic pupils across the board.
Can't you see? They need more money, sheesh!
MKM
Thank God for Mississippi.
Wonder if it has anything to do with an increased number of children not speaking english as their primary language. Hey, why not start giving the tests in spanish?
Thank God for Jim Robinson. Thanks.
Exactly.
Do you remember how we learned to read? We sounded the words phonetically and were able to puzzle them out on our own.
I am not sure that is done today. I read a website today that had cards you could print out that had 200 words that must be learned on sight and others that should be read because they are phonetically sounded. It is a great idea and kids can learn these before they even go to school.
Someone with a lousy memory probably decided that it is torture to expect kids to memorize anything. This person failed so they've decided all kids should be deprived of any opportunity to excel at phonics, memorization or whatever.
Well kids do memorize words without knowing. Most NC kids recognize Belk, Walmart and any number of things from TV. When we were learning to read, we played games with all of it. I remember that as being some of my most fun times in first and second grade.
Regardless of my posts on FR, I can spell almost anything. I just can't type.
There is a blindingly obvious reason for "the gap," but it is so politically incorrect we're not allowed to even think it, much less say it aloud.
I wonder if you can order the NAEP from the publisher? I'm curious about how our students would do (after their summer of remedial math :-).
Reverse ping.
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