Despite NCLB Law's Emphasis on Reading and Math, National Test Scores Show Little Change

By Lynn Olson and Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

Washington

If the No Child Left Behind Act is raising student achievement, it’s not conclusive based on the latest results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress: Reading achievement has remained essentially flat over the past two years, while gains in math have slowed.

In reading, the average national scores have risen just a point for 4th graders since 2003—to 219 on a 500-point scale—and dropped a point for 8th graders, to 262, according to the 2005 NAEP results, released here Oct. 19. In fact, reading scores for both grades have stayed about the same since 1992, the first year data were available.

Math scores, which have climbed dramatically since 1990, when students first took the current version of the NAEP test in that subject, rose again in 2005, but more modestly this time. Fourth graders have posted a 3-point gain since 2003, reaching a national average of 238, while the average score for 8th graders has risen a point, to 279. Some 36 percent of 4th graders and 30 percent of 8th graders were rated “profi-cient” on the 2005 math test. Larger proportions than in the past also demonstrated at least basic skills: 80 percent of 4th graders and 69...