Today, the U.S. Department of Public Instruction released “Trends in Academic Progress.” The report examines the long-term English and math performance of 9-, 13-, and 17-year old students on the rigorous National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
In reading and math, 9- and 13-year-olds made gains since 1971 and 1973, respectively. Reading scores for 9-year-olds are still at 2004 levels, but the same is not true in math. On the other hand, 13-year-olds made incremental (but statistically significant) gains in both reading and math over the past few years.
The most troublesome finding is that 17-year-old students have made no significant reading or math gains after four decades of NAEP testing. Successes in the earlier grades appear to dissipate by high school.
