NAEP 2019-2020 Result Show Biggest Declines In Student Scores
A report for the results of the NAEP for the school year 2019-20 has been released, for which assessors noted one of the biggest declines in students’ scores.
Prior to the coronavirus forced shut down of schools, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was administered to around 34,000 students ranging in ages of between 9 and 13. Although the scores of 9-year-olds in Math and reading exams remained the same since the tests were first taken in 2012, the scores 13-year-olds for the same subjects are significantly lower. That NAEP results for that particular school year represent one of the first major falls in the subject, since 1970, when assessors started recording and tracking academic achievement trends.
The average scores have significantly increased in Math and reading compared to 2012, but the improvements were experienced mostly by Black and Hispanic students. Compared to the scores achieved in 2012, the scores of 13 year old students plummeted in math by 5 points and by 3 points in reading.
About the National Assessment of Educational Progress
.National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is considered to be the largest national representative evaluation that continues to assess what students have learned in math, science, U.S history, civics, geography, and reading. Every 8 years, the math and reading exams are conducted and the results are reported nationwide by their age. Meanwhile, the NAEP exams for the remaining subjects are administered every three years, while the results are provided on a per grade level based on state and their cities.
Remarks Coming from the National Center for Education Statistics about the Latest NAEP Results
Peggy Carr, the Associate Commissioner of the Assessment Division of the National Center for Education Statistics described the results for that specific school year was mediocre. Ms. Carr commented that she has never reported such a slide in score results throughout her years of working with the NCES,.
According to Ms. Carr, she had asked to double check the results to make sure it was accurate as she believes that the results, particularly the Math scores, were concerning. She reckoned that the occurrence is systemic and is currently happening in all of their distributions and samples. Yet she noted that the trend in which the top performers continue to improve while the low performers continue to regress is the same even in other countries. That being the case, Ms. Carr has mentioned that they are still looking for clear answers to this trend so they could come up with clear solutions in addressing the problem.
