Stagnating NAEP Math Scores Seen as No Surprise

Analysis Is Among New Research in Report on U.S. Schooling

When 4th grade mathematics scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress seemed to stall between 2007 and 2009 after years of steadily climbing, some experts pronounced the results disappointing.

But a report released March 17 suggests that the lack of continued progress may have been a necessary correction after a long and possibly unrealistic trajectory, rather than a cause for discouragement.

“The main NAEP has always been an outlier in terms of how much progress it’s measuring,” said Tom Loveless, the author of the report and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. “So, in a sense, it’s coming...