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NAEP Shows Progress But Not Proficiency

According to the recently released 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), students in grades 4 and 8 have made progress in math and reading, but schools have a long way to go in helping all students achieve at high levels.

• More than 700,000 students in all 50 states and the District of Columbia took the tests last winter.
• Since 1990, the percentage of 4th graders who test at the proficient level or better in math has tripled, from 13% to 39%.
• White, black, and Hispanic students all scored higher in 2007 than in the first assessment 15 years ago at both grades 4 and 8. However, only the white-black gap at grade 4 was smaller in comparison to the gaps in 2005 and 1992.
• Reading skills are improving for both 4th and 8th graders, particularly among lower- and middle-performing students.
• In 2007, 4th graders scored higher in reading than in all previous assessment years, with higher percentages of students performing at basic and proficient achievement levels. "The average reading score was up 2 points since 2005 and 4 points compared to the first assessment 15 years ago," according to NAEP.
• The average reading score for 8th graders was up only 1 point since 2005 and 3 points since 1992.
• In 2007, female students scored 7 points higher than male students at grade 4 and 10 points higher at grade 8. These gender gaps were not significantly different from the gaps seen 15 years ago.

Source: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs
/main2007/2007496.asp#section1

New Study Documents the State of Rural Schools

"Why Rural Matters 2007" from the Rural School and Community Trust, analyzes the importance of rural education in each of the 50 states and calls attention to the urgency with which policymakers should address rural issues.  Overall enrollment in rural schools is up by 15% -- reversing years of declines -- and there has been a 55% increase in rural minority students, with some states experiencing increases of more than 100%.

While only  7% of California's students attend rural schools, it still constitutes one of the largest rural populations in the country.