The results are in from the Nation’s Report Card and Vermont’s fourth and eighth grade student scores were among the top in the nation in both reading and mathematics, two of the subjects tested every other year on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
That’s the good news, the bad news is that reading scores remain pretty much the same and math scores dipped for a second year in a row in the nation and in Vermont.
Vermont (230) ranked just below Massachusetts (235) among the states with a higher average scale score than the nation’s in fourth grade reading.
When it comes to grade 8 reading, Vermont is still tops among those states with higher averages than the nation. New Hampshire is first (275) and Vermont and Massachusetts tie for second place with average scale scores of 274.
In eighth grade mathematics, the state ranks fifth among states that beat out the national average scale score. It is outflanked by New Jersey, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
While Vermont students still outshine the national average in fourth grade mathematics, the state’s ranking falls to 17th place.
The NAEP samples students in each state to find out what they know and can do in various subjects. They use the same sets of test booklets at every site in the nation and the results are then used as common performance measure. The test remains essentially the same from year-to-year allowing the results to provide a clear picture of academic progress over time. The test for reading and mathematics were last given in 2013.
In 2015, Vermont’s average scale score in fourth grade reading is 230, with 57 percent scoring proficient or better, according to the National Centers for Education Statistics (NCES).
Among the Vermont fourth graders who did well on the reading portion were students living in poverty. In 2013, Vermont fourth graders participating in the National School Lunch Program – a national indicator of poverty – had an average scale score of 213 and this year they jumped to 217.
Andrew Hudacs, NAEP coordinator at the Agency of Education said the improvement is significant. He added that while low income students contributed to the overall increase in fourth grade reading, the state is still challenged with an achievement gap.
When looking just at this year’s performance in Vermont, the income achievement gap was smallest – just 20 points in fourth grade mathematics and was largest at 22 points in fourth grade reading. Even though this state’s gaps are smaller than the national average and Vermont’s low-income students are among the highest performing in the nation, this is still a concern, according to the AOE.
“We will work to provide those students with high quality opportunities to learn, so that they can reach performance levels comparable to those of their more affluent peers, even as we work to improve learning for all students,” Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe said in a press release.
In Grade 8 reading, the Vermont students who were sampled scored 274, ten points higher than the national sample but the same as those who took the test in 2013. Vermont’s boys were 41 percent proficient or better in reading as were 58 percent of the female students, and all students were 50 percent proficient or better.
Last year in math, fourth graders average scale score was 248, but this year it was 243 – three points higher than the national average. This year, more than half of Vermont’s boys and girls scored at or above proficient. Clearly better than the nation, as only 40 percent of fourth graders scored at the same level. This was the first decline since 1990.
Vermont’s eight graders scored a 290 in mathematics this year, higher than the national average of 281 but six points lower than they scored last year. Nationally, a third of students tested were proficient or better in math. In Vermont, scores were slightly better, with 53 percent of students scoring proficient or advanced.
“The drop in mathematics scores was surprising, and reflects a national trend,” said Secretary Rebecca Holcombe. “We are working with other states and national organizations to better understand possible sources or explanations for this decline.”
Hudac agrees that there isn’t enough information to figure out why scores changed, but the US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Chris Minnich with the Council of Chief State School Officers have made statements indicating that states are in the midst of transition to the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and this might be effecting scores slightly. The Common Core standards spell out what students should know and be able to do at each grade level.
“Every state across the country has moved to more challenging standards since 2010 to better prepare all kids for life after high school,” Minnich said. “We must give teachers the time they need to adjust to higher standards, and also to be sure that what we are testing is appropriately aligned with what is being taught.”
But NAEP is not meant to be aligned with any particular set of standards. NAEP has its own frameworks for each subject. Still, a NAEP Validity Studies Panel commissioned the American Institutes of Research to take look at the relationship between test items on NAEP and the Common Core standards.
They found “reasonable agreement” overall except for a few areas in 4th and 8th grade mathematics. There was a nearly 80 percent overlap in 4th grade math items with CCSS except in data analysis, statistics and probability (47 percent) and algebra (62 percent) and geometry (68 percent). The results of the study indicate that most of the differences seemed to reflect the Common Core’s intent to move the instruction of certain topics to later grades. The question is whether questions from these areas are the ones that students missed.
Fran Stancavage, co-author of the report said, “The Common Core State Standards are more focused than previous standards in their attempt to create a coherent progression in mathematics instruction from elementary to high school. Consequently, it is not surprising to find these differences in emphasis between the CCSS and the NAEP framework, which was last revised more than 10 years ago.”
The Agency of Education is encouraging the public to consider NAEP scores along with numerous other measures used to determine our school systems overall performance.
“We are a small state with a small population and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. We need to make sure every Vermont child has opportunities to gain the skills she or he needs to participate in the workforce, pursue some kind of postsecondary credential and help us build thriving communities. We must invest in their capacity, so they in turn can invest in the strength of their own families and communities,” Holcombe said.
