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Nation's Report Card: 2003 Results Are Mixed
CER Analysis
November 18,2003
NAEP’s 2003 report card is a mixed bag for American students. While some progress was made in math, reading scores remained flat, the achievement gap persists, and the proficient rate of students in these basic skills still falls short of even half of all students In reading, 24% of all 4th grade students in the US are proficient, while 32% score at the basic level and 37% are below basic. The reading results for 8th graders are comparable: 29% of all 8th grade students in the US are achieving at the proficient level, 42% are at basic level and 26% are at below basic level. Despite a renewed focus on reading, it was in math that students showed significant progress. On a national level fourth and eights graders across every level achieved scores in 2003 that are higher than any of the previous assessment years. Education Secretary Rod Paige said that the achievement gap is starting to close; in three years, the proportion of black fourth graders reaching the basic level in mathematics rose from 36 to 54% nationwide. The proportion of Hispanic students reaching the basic level in fourth grade math rose from 42 to 62% in three years. While still not proficient, these numbers give cause for optimism. But there is still an approximate 30-point difference in average scores between blacks and whites, a gap which has not budged since 1992, in both grades 4 and 8. The greatest gains in 4th grade math were found in some of the southern states including North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana and Mississippi. 4th grade reading gains are seen in twelve states, with Delaware, Florida, North Carolina and Maryland seeing the largest of those gains. And the 8th grade reading assessment showed gains in seven states. Those included Wyoming, Colorado, Missouri, Kentucky, South Carolina, Delaware and Massachusetts. The 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress was conducted for the first time in all fifty states as a result of the federal requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act and will be used as a baseline for future evaluations of state progress. Link here for more detailed information from the National Assessment Governing Board, which sponsors the report card, and link here to CER's state-by-state summaries. For additional information on school performance in your state, check out our School Report Card area.# # # The Center for Education Reform is the leading authority for information on innovative reforms in education and works in states and communities across the country to advance the cause of educational excellence. October 2003 marked CER's 10th Anniversary in working to make schools better for all children. For more information, contact CER at (202) 822-9000 or send us email.
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