Arkansas Eighth-graders Show Slight Gain On Assessment Tests
by November 7, 2013 9:07 pm 84 views
Arkansas eighth-graders’ reading scores on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress increased by 3 percent from 2011, while eighth grade math scores and fourth-grade reading and math scores changed little.
Arkansas students scored just below the national average in all subjects.
Arkansas eighth-graders scored 262 out of 500 on the reading test, an increase from 259 in 2011. The national average was 268, an increase from 265 the year before.
The U.S. Department of Education conducts the NAEP, otherwise known as The Nation’s Report Card, every two years. About 2,700 Arkansas students in grades four and eight at 160 school districts were tested.
In other subjects, scores of Arkansas fourth-graders increased from 238 to 240 in math, just below the national average of 242, and from 217 to 219 in reading, compared to the national average of 222. Scores dropped from 279 to 278 in eighth grade math. The national average was 285.
All of Arkansas’ scores except eighth-grade reading represented “no significant change,” according to the NAEP website.
Arkansas was one of 11 states that showed gains in eighth-grade reading, along with the District of Columbia and Department of Defense Schools.
The report is available at www.nationsreportcard.gov.