For example, 84 % of the reported improvement in
4th grade math proficiency between 2008 and 2009 and 69 % of the improvement in 8th grade reading proficiency could be attributed to the exclusion of these students.
In 2015, there was almost a 30 percentile point difference in
4th grade math proficiency rates between the top and bottom states, only some of which can be explained by state - level social and economic factors.
Not exact matches
Only the highest ranked state, Massachusetts, actually set a
proficiency standard higher than the NAEP standard — in
4th -
grade math.
To see whether states are setting
proficiency bars in such a way that they are «lowballing expectations» and have «lowered the bar» for students in
4th - and 8th -
grade reading and
math, Education Next has used information from the recently released 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to evaluate empirically the
proficiency standards each state has established.
For example, on the
4th -
grade math test in 2009, West Virginia reported that 60.8 percent of its students had achieved
proficiency, but 28.1 percent were proficient on the NAEP.
Figure 1 shows a scatterplot of
proficiency rates in
4th grade reading and 8th
grade math as an example.
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the «Nation's Report Card,» «
proficiency» rates last year were below 50 percent for every racial and ethnic group, in both reading and
math, in both
4th and 8th
grade.
New York's expectations are even higher than NAEP's:
Proficiency rates on its
4th grade reading and 8th
grade math tests are 3 percentage points to 10 percentage points lower than those rates on the NAEP, Achieve reports.
Click here to view a comparison of state NAEP averages created by the U. S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences; you can also see charts here comparing each states»
proficiency rates to those of NAEP for
4th and 8th
grade reading along with charts for
math and science.
The state fared better in education, improving in all of the indicators (pre-school attendance,
4th grade reading
proficiency, 8th
grade math proficiency, and high school graduation rates).