abilities. For the 8th grade reading test, 37 percent of students with disabilities scored at or above basic, compared with 81 percent of students without disabilities.
Considering the NAEP score decreases seen for the overall student population, holding steady could be seen as a neutral or even positive result, especially because more students with disabilities took the test this year.
But the lack of movement in scores means that students with disabilities gained no ground on closing the wide achievement gap between themselves and students who do not have disabilities.
In reading, 33 percent of 4th graders with disabilities scored at or above a basic level, compared with 74 percent of students without disabilities. For the 8th grade reading test, 37 percent of students with disabilities scored at or above basic, compared with 81 percent of students without disabilities.
In the math portion of the exam, 54 percent of 4th grade students with disabilities scored at or above basic; 85 percent of students without disabilities scored in that range. For 8th graders, 32 percent of students with disabilities scored at or above basic, while 76 percent of students without disabilities scored in that range.
