AJC.com > Blogs > Get Schooled > Archives > 2007 > September > 25
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Improving Schools: Is Georgia Leading Or Following?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox took over the State Department of Education, her goal (some might call it a mantra) has been to: “Lead the nation in improving student achievement.”
Today, the latest Nation’s Report Card in math and reading provides new evidence for Cox and others to decide exactly how much academic progress is being made.
The press release from Cox’s office boasts “historic” improvement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is considered the best measure of what American students know and should be able to do.
Here’s what the release doesn’t tell you:
The only area in which Georgia’s public school students improved from the last exams, given in 2005, was fourth-grade reading. In every other category — fourth-grade math, eight-grade reading and eighth-grade math — there was virtually no improvement.
None of the average scale scores posted in those three categories were statistically different from the previous scores; neither were the percentages of students scoring at the various achievement levels.
In other words, what little gains there were, don’t mean much.
Even in the one area where Georgians did improve significantly — again, in fourth-grade reading — more than a third (34 percent) of the kids who took the test posted scores below the “Basic” level. What’s more, with an average scale score of 219 (out of a possible 500), Georgia students were bested by 28 other states.
So you tell me: Is Georgia leading the nation in improving student achievement or not?
UPDATE: For more on the NAEP scores, check out education reporter Laura Diamond’s article, which was recently posted on our Metro page.
