Washington students among nation’s best
SEATTLE – Washington students’ achievement on what the federal government calls “the nation’s report card” is one more piece of evidence that education reform is working, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson said Wednesday.
Washington students in fourth and eighth grades showed they are better readers and know more about math than the national average in nearly every category cited in the National Assessment of Education Progress, including top scores in the nation in both reading and math for black students in both grades.
“Our students have performed well on the NAEP in the past, and today’s results show that our students are among the top in the nation,” Bergeson said. “I’m very proud of our students and our schools and the progress they have made on this national test. It mirrors what we know from the results we get every year from our own state assessment – education reform is making a true difference in our students’ achievement.”
On a scale of 0 to 500, eighth-graders in Washington state averaged a score of 285 for math, compared to the national average of 278. This achievement made Washington one of the top seven in the nation for eighth-grade math in the report released Wednesday.
Washington students’ average math score of 242 for grade 4, compared to the national average of 237, made this state one of the top 12 in the nation for fourth grade math.
In reading, Washington’s fourth-grade score of 223 fell into the top 14, with a national average of 217. The eighth-grade score of 265 beat the national average of 260 but was close to the middle of the pack among the states.
When the national results were announced in July, education officials said they were the best fourth-grade scores since the national testing program began, with reading in 1971 and math in 1973.
Achievement gaps between racial groups are narrowing nationally and on the state level, but the difference was particularly noticeable in Washington among black students, who nearly met the national average for all races in fourth-grade math and reading and significantly bypassed the national average for black students.
Washington’s Hispanic fourth-graders scored one point below the national average in math in their ethnic group and Asian/Pacific Islanders were six points below the average for their ethnic group. Reading scores for all of Washington’s ethnic groups in fourth grade beat their national averages.
Washington fourth-graders have shown steady improvement in NAEP test results, with an increase of about 10 points in math and nearly 20 points in reading for fourth-graders over the past 10 years. Eighth-graders showed a similar improvement in math, but reading scores have remained static.