NAEP Reading and Math Scores Rise

By Sean Cavanagh and Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

Test scores among 4th and 8th graders across the United States rose in both reading and mathematics on the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress , gains that occurred amid intensifying debate on Capitol Hill about the effectiveness of ongoing federal efforts to raise achievement in those subjects.

Fourth grade math scores on NAEP, called “the nation’s report card,” rose from 238 to 240 from 2005 to 2007, while 8th grade performance climbed from 279 to 281, both on a 500-point scale. The 2007 NAEP results were released today.

Those gains continued an overall upward trend in NAEP math scores in both grades that dates to the early 1990s, while reading scores have been more stagnant over that time. While the gains in math were smaller than in some previous testing cycles, they were still statistically significant, as were...