Little Progress Seen in Student Results on Reading NAEP

Washington

Reading scores stayed flat for 4th graders and rose only slightly for 8th graders on the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, results that some find disappointing after years of intensive attention to improving the reading skills of American students.

The report released last week shows that 8th graders scored 264, on average, on a 500-point scale on the 2009 exam. That is 1 point higher than the last time the reading test was given, in 2007. At the 4th grade level, scores averaged 221, the same as in 2007.

Eighth graders’ reading scores have hovered between 262 and 264 since 2002, and have risen 4 points overall since 1992, the year that marks the beginning of this series of reading exams. Fourth graders’ scores also have risen 4 points since 1992, and since 2002 have stayed within 2 points of...