The people who brought you the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released the 2007 TUDA results today!
Charlotte-Mecklenburg is the only participating district in North Carolina. The study concluded that CMS scored higher than most (participating) urban districts and the same as the national average on most 2007 NAEP reading and math tests. CMS kids scored higher than the national average on the 8th grade math test.
4th grade reading:
Compared to public schools nationally, the average scores for 9 of the 11 districts in 2007 were lower. Scores in Austin and Charlotte were not significantly different from the national average.
8th grade reading:
The average scores for students in Austin and Charlotte were higher than in large central cities. However, the average scores for all the districts except Charlotte were below the average score for public school students across the nation.
4th grade math:
Fourth-graders in Charlotte scored higher than, and students in Austin scored not significantly different from, their peers in the nation in 2007. Students in the other nine participating districts scored lower, on average, than the nation.
8th grade math:
In 2007, eighth-graders in Charlotte and Austin scored higher than their peers in public schools in the nation, but students in the other nine districts scored lower.
Admittedly, the cities/districts involved in the study (Atlanta, Austin, Boston, CMS, Chicago, Cleveland, D.C., Houston, LA, NYC, and San Diego) are not exactly comparable, i.e., district/city size and demographics vary big time. Thus, the value of the study is the ability to compare Charlotte’s performance to the nation.
