Reading and math scores decreased slightly in Georgia and remain mostly below U.S. averages, with students struggling to improve understanding of the core subjects, according to 2015 data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Frequently referred to as the “nation’s report card,” NAEP tests a representative sample of fourth- and eighth-graders across the country every other year. In Georgia, fourth-graders scored four points lower in math than they did in 2013. Eighth-graders scored two points lower in reading, the data showed.
The average score remained the same as two years ago among fourth-graders in reading and eighth-graders in math. Fourth-grade reading was the only category in which Georgia students scored slightly higher than the national average. Nationally, Georgia ranks in the bottom half compared to other states. The assessments were given to a random sampling of fourth- and eighth-graders in public and private schools.
State education officials are particularly concerned about the four-point drop in fourth-grade math and planned to refocus efforts on getting students better prepared in “foundational” work, increasing literacy efforts at an early age so students are better able to read and comprehend math and reading.
Georgia students and their parents are likely to get more troubling news on Monday, when the Georgia Department of Education releases detailed results of the Georgia Milestones tests.
Administered last spring for the first time, the state standardized tests replaced an older series of exams, and unlike those older Criterion-Referenced Competency tests and high school End of Course tests, these new Milestones are no cakewalk.
To find out more about standardized testing results in Georgia schools, check out Myajc.com
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