Vermont students show little change in the latest nationwide science and math test results. As in past years, the state’s fourth- and eighth-graders rank among the highest in the nation on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
The NAEP, which assesses states rather than individual schools, has been administered every two years since 1990. Results were released nationally last week. The Vermont Agency of Education did not publicize the state’s scores.
Average math scores for fourth- and eighth-graders increased by one point. Average reading scores increased by one point for fourth-graders and remained level for eighth-graders.
Those average scores, however, mask the achievement gap between low-income students and their peers.
For instance, among fourth-graders eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch — a proxy marker for low-income students — math scores actually dropped by one point.
Among eighth-graders, there’s a 26-point difference in the 2013 math scores between students eligible for the lunch program and their peers. The gap in Vermont is only slightly narrower than the national average, which shows a 27-point difference.
Tom Alderman, director of integrated support for learning at the Agency of Education, noted the achievement gap when reacting to the results.
“While they provide evidence that Vermont is doing good work and moving in the right direction, they also demonstrate room for improvement,” he said. “This is true overall, but especially when we compare overall results and sub-group results, where we see a persistent achievement gap.”
Vermont’s scores, Alderman said, have gradually increased since 1990.
Full results and state-by-state comparisons can be seen here.
