Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Another winter punch heading toward Ohio
Man robbed at Tallmadge Avenue eatery
Complaints against officer keep coming
Police: Ohio girl dies after fall into snow bank
Four teens restrain man, take items from his Akron home
Police: Man tries to buy crack with credit card
Police say couple had 50 stolen hubcaps
Woman rescued after falling through rotting floor in house
Blogs:
First Bell - On Education:
No City of Akron basketball tonight
Pets:
Pet telethon re-airs
The Heldenfiles:
Chipmunks "Squeakquel" on DVD/BD March 30
Akron Zips:
Zips favored on road against MAC West leader
Tribe Matters:
Blogmail response on Hafner
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth's contract terminated
Balanced Ledger:
QB in Browns future: another mock draft
Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – February 9
Cleveland Cavaliers:
NBA Power Rankings from Around the Internet
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes grab 18 players on signing day
Varsity Letters:
Five local gridders to play in Big33
All Da King's Men:
Palin At The Tea Party Convention
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Republican Pre-Conditions
Akron Law Café:
Law, Love and Chocolate
Car Chase:
Collector Car Hobby Loses One of the Best—Jim Roll
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Decisions Decisions: Credit Cards or Your Mortgage?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Loucile is looking for a Lake Erie getaway in June for three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5.
Sound Check:
Talk of the Town – Top entertainment picks for the weekend
HRLite House:
OFCCP Report
Akron Gamer:
Makers of 'Castle Crashers' unveil 'BattleBlock Theater'
See Jane Style:
Do IT this week: Layering
Biggest improvement from low-achievers, assessment report says
By Libby Quaid
Associated Press
Published on Wednesday, Apr 29, 2009
WASHINGTON: Kids are making strides in reading and math, though progress in math seems stalled among high school students, according to a federal report that tracked test scores going back to the 1970s.
The scores come from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, considered the benchmark of how students perform across the country. The report issued Tuesday measured children's scores in 2008 against long-term trends.
It offered a glimmer of hope for high school kids. Their reading scores improved since 2004, the last time results were issued. In fact, every age group — 9, 13 and 17 — made gains over 2004.
In math, scores improved for younger children since 2004, but scores for 17-year-olds remained flat.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan said he was pleased but not satisfied with the results.
''It's a step in the right direction,'' he said in a brief interview Tuesday with the Associated Press.
''Obviously, we have a lot of hard work ahead. But it's really good to see the improvement,'' Duncan said. ''I'm proud of how hard our kids are working. I'm proud of how hard our teachers are working.''
Results were in line with long-term trends, said Darvin Winick, chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, the bipartisan panel that oversees the test.
Over time, schools have done rather well with elementary school kids, better with middle school kids and stalled with high school kids, Winick said. The report said 17-year-olds did no better at reading and math in 2008 than they did in the early 1970s.
The biggest gains came from low-achieving students. That is probably not an accident — the federal No Child Left Behind law and similar state laws have focused on improving the performance of minority and poor children, who lag behind their white classmates on standardized tests.
''The big pressure for the last six, eight years in this country has been on bringing the lower-performing students up,'' Winick said in an interview. ''And what this long-term trend says is, generally, that's what's happening.''
The overall gains in the report were modest, but one Education Department official pointed out that shifting demographics might obscure more significant progress among minority groups.
White children made up 80 percent of the 9-year-olds tested in the 1970s; today, they are 56 percent of those tested. Hispanic children were only 5 percent of the 9-year-olds assessed in the 1970s; today, they are 20 percent of those tested. The percentage of black students tested rose slightly, from 14 percent to 16 percent since the 1970s.
Black students in all age groups have made greater gains over time than white students in reading and math.
WASHINGTON: Kids are making strides in reading and math, though progress in math seems stalled among high school students, according to a federal report that tracked test scores going back to the 1970s.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
