Pa., N.J. eighth graders gain in U.S. reading test
Pennsylvania was one of nine states where eighth graders scored a gain on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test, according to results released yesterday.
Pennsylvania was one of nine states where eighth graders scored a gain on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test, according to results released yesterday.
Their reading score was 271 out of a possible 500, above the national average of 262.
In New Jersey, the eighth-grade reading score was 273, a slight increase but not significantly different from the 2007 results.
Nationally, reading scores for fourth and eighth graders held mostly steady in the test known as the Nation's Report Card.
The score is "confirmation that our targeted investments in education . . . are paying off," Pennsylvania Education Department spokeswoman Leah Harris said. "Our students and our educators have reason to be proud."
Pennsylvania's eighth-grade average score was 268 in 2007, when the test was last given, and 265 in 2002. The eighth-grade groups in Pennsylvania that showed a gain since 2007 were female students and those who were not low income.
In Pennsylvania, 40 percent of eighth graders tested proficient or advanced. In New Jersey, 42 percent scored proficient or better. The national average was 32 percent.
New Jersey's score on the eighth-grade test put it in second place nationally. Pennsylvania's score tied it for fifth with one other state.
New Jersey's fourth-grade reading score for 2009 was 229, higher than the 220 national average and about the same as it was in 2007. Forty percent of the fourth graders tested scored proficient or better.
In Pennsylvania, the fourth-grade reading score was 224, not significantly different from 2007. Thirty-seven percent tested proficient or advanced. The national average was 33 percent.
Pennsylvania's average score on the fourth grade test tied it for 15th with four other states. New Jersey's fourth-grade average tied it for second with three other states.
Nationally, reading scores for fourth and eighth graders continued a stubborn trend of minimal improvement across most racial, economic, and geographic groups. The fourth-grade average remained unchanged while the eighth-grade average rose one point.
The average score for both grades was only four points higher than it was in 1992.
"Today's results once again show that the achievement of American students isn't growing fast enough," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement.
A significant achievement gap remains among several groups. Affluent, white, and Asian/Pacific Islander students are scoring higher than low-income, black, and Hispanic students. Each group has made gains, but at about the same rate, resulting in a continuing, sizable gap - 26 points between white and black eighth graders and 24 percent between white and Hispanic students.
