Educational progress a mixed picture

The nation’s 9- and 13-year-olds are doing better in math and reading than they did decades ago, test results released Tuesday show.

But scores in math and reading are virtually unchanged since the early 1970s for students who are 17 and approaching graduation, according to the National Assessment of Education Progress, often referred to as the Nation’s Report Card.

Susan Walker, policy and research director for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, said the mostly higher test scores among 9- and 13-year-olds is a positive sign. “And, hopefully, that progress will continue as those students mature and get older,” she said.

The report card, generally considered one of the best measures of long-term academic achievement, is based on math and reading tests given to roughly 26,000 9-, 13- and 17-year-olds in 2008. It looks at how students have progressed since the last tests in 2004, as well as a reading test dating back to 1971 and a math exam first taken in 1973. No state-by-state breakdowns are provided.

Among the findings:

> On a 500-point scale, 9-year-olds scored an average of 220 in reading in 2008, compared to 216 in 2004 and 208 in 1971. Their average math score of 243 in 2008 was up 2 points, from 241 in 2004, and up 14 points, from 219 in 1973.

> The average score of 13-year-olds on the math test was 281, unchanged from 2004 and up from 266 in 1973. They had gains in reading —- scoring 260, compared to 257 in 2004 and 255 on the first year’s test.

>17-year-olds showed almost no change, scoring an average of 306 on the math test, compared to 305 in 2004 and 306 in the early 1970s. On the reading tests, their average score was 286, compared to 283 in 2004 and 285 in 1971.

Darvin M. Winick, chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees and sets policy for NAEP, said the lack of improvement among 17-year-olds is cause for concern.

“Clearly, we need to do more to ensure that students are continuing to learn throughout elementary, middle, and high school and are prepared for higher education and the workforce,” Winick said.

The report found that taking higher-level mathematics courses generally translated into higher scores on the 2008 math exams at ages 13 and 17. For example, 13-year-olds who were enrolled in algebra classes scored higher on average than those enrolled in pre-algebra or regular mathematics.

“That supports what Georgia has done with improving the rigor of our standards and requiring that all students take four years of math and four years of science to graduate,” Walker said.