National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) : Fails To Deliver

The worst thing here is what information can anyone trust coming from the federal government on any aspect that has to do with government involvement. Who are these people and where do they live? Everything is spin, nothing is believable.

Is it always 'take the money and run'?

Perspective on the NAEP Score Trend Perspective 
By John Merrifield

Edexcellence’s Michael Petrilli reacted to the NAEP score decline with an article entitled, “Heartbreak on NAEP.” Based on the trend described by his Fordham colleague, Chad Aldeman, that “Over the Long-Term, NAEP Scores are Way, Way Up,” Petrilli expected further progress.

Okay, as Petrilli notes, there was no reason to expect a decline, but likewise no reason to expect noteworthy gains. As Aldeman pointed out, year-to-year changes border on imperceptible. Only over the 40+ year life of the NAEP tests can we tell performance is “way, way up.”

What!?! Over the 40+ NAEP years basis for the “way, way up” claim, scores that are still below 60%, mostly well-below, have mostly risen less than ten percent. Indeed, progress from horrific “Nation at Risk” to utterly dismal Nation at Risk academic outcomes, with approximately a tripling in per pupil funding over those years, was indeed (as described by Aldeman) occurring at a glacial pace until progress recently ended according to the most recent scores. Even if the glacial advance resumes with the next set of scores, that pace is not nearly good enough.

Aldeman argues that the glacial rise in scores actually understates progress because historically low-performing ethnic minorities have become a much larger share of the test-taking population. Maybe so, but this means that the low performers are still off-the-charts bad after decades of supposedly focused effort to close achievement gaps, and I say maybe because as an astute published comment on the Aldeman article notes, much of the reported change in the composition of the test-taking population resulting from a change in the definition of Hispanic.

Avoid being fooled into complacency by claims of “way, way up” by keeping focused on absolute, current levels of achievement. Even if they were slightly worse 40 years ago, they are still awful now. As the most recent decline may be reminding us, tweaks to the current system have a very low upside.

The Center for Education Reform noted the key fact, “way, way up” in 40+ years or not, “Less Than Half of U.S. Students are Proficient in Reading, Math According to Nation’s Report Card.” That’s an ongoing disaster that puts our nation at risk.