NOT ALL SHIP-SHAPE WHEN IT COMES TO NAEP: There's been a flurry of news today with the release of the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores for math and reading, which measure fourth and eighth grade student performance across the U.S. The big news item: math scores dropped for the first time in 25 years. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that the news "isn't great," but also that the dip "doesn't come as a big surprise."
And the news "isn't great" for reading scores, either. In the past, both math and reading scores have showed small but steady increases nationally since 1990. But in addition to math dropping this year, reading appeared to stall. Take a look at the graph below, which the LA Times put together to represent overall national reading progress for fourth graders as compared to the average California and Los Angeles student performance.
However, despite the less-than-stellar news, there are moments of light. For example, the L.A. Unified School District, which has had a tough couple of years in the edtech world, was the fastest-improving district for black students in eighth-grade math. The district gained 21 points since 2003, compared with 11 points in other big cities overall.
The NAEP scores have been released by the National Center for Education Statistics, and can be viewed here.
