State Tests and NAEP Gains Seen on Same Trajectory

Study Indicates Students May be Making Real Progress.

State tests of student achievement echo state-level trends on the National Assessment of Educational Progress—considered the nation’s gold standard of academic testing—more closely than has been generally recognized, according to a new study.

In a report issued last week , the Center on Education Policy found “more agreement than is commonly acknowledged” between trends on test scores in 23 states and those on NAEP.

Sixty-seven percent of the states studied showed progress on both state tests and the national assessment in 4th grade reading between 2005 and 2009, with 76 percent showing progress in 8th grade reading, 79 percent in 4th grade mathematics, and 90 percent in 8th grade...