LITTLE ROCK — Reading and math scores earned by Arkansas fourth-graders and a reading score earned by eighth-graders on a 2011 national exam were stagnant and below the national average, while students across the country made headway in most areas.
Only Arkansas eighth-grade math students last school year showed a statistically significant 3-point gain over 2009 results on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress test known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” which was released Tuesday.
But that, too, fell short of the country’s average.
Less than a third of Arkansas test-takers reached the “proficient” level on the national test, except in fourth-grade math, where 36 percent of state test-takers were proficient or advanced.
A proficient performance on the test indicates competency on challenging grade-level subject matter.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress exams in reading and math are given to a representative sample of fourth- and eighth-graders every other year in the 50 states, Washington D.C., and the U.S. Department of Defense schools.
The exams, the only standardized tests given in every state, are considered by policymakers and educators to be an informal check on a state’s own tests, such as the Arkansas Benchmark and End-of-Course exams.
While making no statistically significant gains on three of the four national tests, Arkansas students didn’t show any decline in 2011 compared with 2009.
Gayle Potter, director of curriculum, assessment and research at the Arkansas Department of Education, said she is pleased with the eighth-grade gains.
“And we held steady in the other areas,” Potter said. “We held our own.”
A single cause for any gains is difficult to point to, Potter said.
“We would hope it is the result of having put in place a more rigorous curriculum and that over time we are seeing the benefit of it,” she said.
Pamela Byrd, the National Assessment of Educational Progress coordinator for Arkansas, said Tuesday that the state has made progress over the 20-year span of the test.
“We are doing very well. You can see that gradually — over the long-haul — Arkansas is doing something right,” Byrd said. “The kids are learning more every year, doing better.”
A total of 6,300 Arkansas students took the national math test and another 6,300 students took the reading test between Jan. 24 and March 4 of this year. The students came from 262 of the state’s more than 1 ,000 public schools. The results are reported by state and nation only — and not by school or district.
Ninety-nine percent of the students identified to take the exams were tested, Potter said, including those who have a disability or are not native English speakers.
The test inclusion rates vary from state to state, with as many as 10 percent of identified students exempted.
“We have one of the highest inclusion rates in the country,” Potter said of the practice, which has the potential to hold down Arkansas’ average scores as compared with other states. “We test everybody.”
MATH RESULTS
Arkansas’ public school fourth-graders scored an average 238 on a scale of 0 to 500 in math, just as they scored in 2007 and 2009 when Arkansas pupils achieved at the national average.
By standing still, Arkansas slipped below the new national average of 240. Arkansas scored higher than eight other states, about the same as 13, and lower than 30, counting the District of Columbia and the Defense Department schools.
Arkansas’ eighth-graders showed positive growth in math, averaging 279, up from 276 in 2009 and 274 in 2007. In 1990, Arkansans averaged 256. Arkansas scored higher than eight states, about the same as 11 and lower than 32 others.
The national average for eighth-grade math increased from 282 in 2009 to 283 in 2011.
READING RESULTS
In fourth- and eighth-grade reading, Arkansas scores inched up, but not enough to be considered an improvement over previous years.
In reading, Arkansas fourth-graders scored an average 217, up 1 statistically insignificant point from 216 in 2009. Arkansas fourth-graders also averaged a 217 in 2007 and in 2005.
Nationally, the average fourth-grade reading score remained at 220, the same as in 2009 and 2007.
Arkansas’ eighth-graders showed a 1-point gain in reading, going to 259 after stagnating at 258 on each of the past four exams given between 2003 and 2009. The 1-point increase is not considered statistically significant.
Nationally, the average moved from 262 in 2009 to 264 in 2011.
DISAPPOINTED
The chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board applauded gains in fourth- and eighth-grade math scores and acknowledged the mixed results in reading.
David Driscoll noted in a prepared statement that the 2011 tests mark two decades of national assessment results.
In that time, the average score for fourth-grade math increased 28 points and for eighth-grade math, 21 points, he said. But he also said that the gains have slowed in recent years.
“In reading ... there’s been a 1-point rise in the national average at grade eight and no change at grade four, which is deeply disappointing because the fourth-grade reading scores have been flat now for four years,” Driscoll said.
“We must now find a way to regain the momentum in math and accelerate student progress in both subjects,” he said.
LESS THAN A THIRD
The state and national assessment results are reported not only in numerical scores but broken down by achievement levels: basic, proficient and advanced.
In fourth-grade math, 81 percent of Arkansas pupils achieved at a basic level or better, meaning they showed at least partial mastery of knowledge and skills.
Refining the results further, 33 percent of Arkansas test-takers showed proficient knowledge and skills — or a solid academic performance for the student’s grade level. An additional 3 percent showed advanced or superior knowledge and skills.
Nationally, 39 percent of fourth-grade math pupils scored at proficient and advanced levels.
Seventy percent of Arkansas eighth-grade math test takers achieved at a basic or better level. Twenty-nine percent scored at proficient and advanced levels, compared with 34 percent nationally.
In reading, 63 percent of the state’s fourth-grade test-takers scored at basic or better levels. Thirty percent scored at proficient or better.
Nationally, 32 percent scored at the level of proficient or better.
Seventy-one percent of eighth-graders scored at basic or better in reading. Twenty-eight percent achieved at proficient or better levels compared with 32 percent nationally.
DEMOGRAPHICS
The national assessment results are broken down by race, ethnicity and family income as determined by eligibility for subsidized school meals.
In Arkansas, for example, 45 percent of white fourth-grade test-takers scored at proficient or advanced levels on the math test while only 16 percent of black pupils and 28 percent of Hispanic students did the same.
Among pupils who qualified for free- and reduced-price school meals, 26 percent scored at proficient or better.
Among students from more affluent families, 57 percent scored at proficient or better.
Similarly, in eighth-grade math, 43 percent of white students scored at or above proficient, as did 9 percent of black students and 20 percent of Hispanic students. Eighteen percent of students who qualified for subsidized school meals scored at proficient or better, as did 44 percent of test-takers from more affluent families.
COMPARISONS
The national assessment exams differ from the state’s own Benchmark and End-of-Course exams. The state exams are based on the state’s own math and literacy standards. The national assessment isn’t tied to any state’s education standards, curriculum or accountability system that either rewards or penalizes the schools for performance.
“These are different tests for different purposes, but we do want [the results] from both kinds of tests to go in the same direction, which is upward,” Potter said, noting that Tuesday’s national results do not contradict the results of state exams that have been improving yearly.
The District of Columbia, Hawaii, New Mexico and Rhode Island showed gains in math at fourth and eighth grades. Massachusetts was the highest-achieving state in fourth- and eighth-grade math.
Hawaii and Maryland were the only states that showed reading gains in fourth grade and eighth grade.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 11/02/2011