The average US fourth- and eighth-grader had a lower score in math on the longest-running national assessment of the nation’s schools, the US Education Department reported today.
Performance of 4th graders decreased slightly in math on a nationwide average.
It was the first dip since 1990 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, which is often referred to as the Nation’s Report Card. The actual decrease in performance, however, was very small.
A small number of jurisdictions, including the District of Columbia and Mississippi, saw results increase. But in eight states, including Maryland, scores went down, more than the average in Maryland, although the state is still above the national average on all measure, for whatever it’s worth to be above the national average. Illinois experienced no significant change in test scores in either fourth- or eighth-grade math.
And although the New York Times says the decline was “unexpected,” it “could be related to changes ushered in by the Common Core standards, which have been adopted by more than 40 states.” Questions on the fourth-grade test, for example, which deal with data analysis, statistics, and geometry aren’t part of the Common Core. As a result, teachers in Common Core states may not have covered that material with their fourth-grade students.
“It’s not unusual when you see lots of different things happening in classrooms to first see a slight decline before you see improvement,” the paper quoted William J Bushaw, the executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policies and achievement levels for the tests.
Average scores across the county also went down in eighth-grade reading a little, while average reading scores for fourth graders weren’t significantly different in comparison to 2013.
In 2015, students had an average score in reading of 223 points at grade 4 and 265 points at grade 8, where each test is reported on a 500-point scale. The 2015 average score was 2 points lower in eighth grade compared to 2013.
I join education researchers like Morgan Polikoff in urging the public and especially our elected officials not to jump to any conclusions that link the NAEP results with any specific education policy, state test, curriculum, or school. That’s not what NAEP measures, and even if it were, one blip downward doesn’t make a “trend.”
Overall, it’s a sad turn of events. And what makes it all the more sad is the knowledge that the results will be used in all kinds of perverse ways to score cheap political points and make policy decisions that may or may not help kids. We can’t do anything about the scores at this point. But we can do something about the misuse of the results. So, let’s.
