Januar y 28, 2016
achieve.org
STATE TEST RESULTS ARE GETTING CLOSER TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT ON NAEP PARENTS, STUDENTS, AND TEACHERS BENEFIT In 2015, we first released this report, Proficient vs. Prepared, showing large disparities between most state test results and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). With states taking action to transition to new, more rigorous tests over the past couple of years and also setting new levels of proficiency or cut scores, states deserve a lot of credit for reducing or even eliminating the “honesty gap” that existed. With standards and tests that gauge whether students are able to show they can do grade-level work, parents are provided better information so they can partner with educators to impact student achievement. The 2016 edition of the Proficient vs. Prepared report demonstrates that most states acknowledged and corrected their reporting of student proficiency. Parents, students, and teachers in the states where gaps closed are now getting information from state tests that are much closer to other proficiency indicators allowing them to make more informed decisions for their individual students. And, policymakers and the general public now have better information to make decisions to improve school systems. As we said in the first report, no single test can show everything we need to know about how a student is performing in school. Test scores along with information about a student’s work in the classroom, however, give families the information they need to know about a student’s progress. Findings • Sixteen states have eliminated or nearly eliminated their gap (state scores are within five percentage points of NAEP scores) in one or both subjects: AZ, AR, CO, DE, DC, GA, IL, ME, MD, MI, MS, NH, NM, RI, SC, WV • Nine more have made significant progress toward closing their gaps (by 10 percentage points or more in either 4th grade reading or 8th grade math) but still have gaps of more than five percentage points: AK, HI, IN, LA, NJ, PA, OH, OR, WA • Three states continued to have moderate gaps between five and 20 percentage points: AL, KY, MN • Two states’ gaps remained roughly the same with at least one gap of more than 20 percentage points: NC, TN • Three states had mixed results: MO, WI, WY • Four states, some of whom have increased the gap between their state and NAEP scores, continue to insist that far more students are proficient than their NAEP scores indicate: IA, OK, TX, and VA • Three states had a small or no gap last year and maintained that small gap this year: MA, NY, UT It’s important to note that this report does not compare the content of the tests, but only of the percentage of students deemed proficient on each. NAEP is one benchmark to make sure parents are getting the truth from state tests. Some states have used benchmarks from ACT. What is proficiency? NAEP defines proficiency as “solid academic performance” for each grade assessed. Students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter, including subject-matter knowledge, application of such knowledge to real-world situations, and analytical skills approximate to the subject matter.” (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/achievement.aspx)
If you have questions about how many students took each state assessment, please contact the state department of education.
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Assessments
achieve.org 4th Grade Reading NAEP vs. State Proficiency State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Assessments
2013-14 Gap
2014-15 Gap
-7 -51 -48 -51 N/A -26 N/A -35 -27 -22 -60 -42 N/A -23 -48 -37 N/A -18 -53 -29 -41 -7 -39 -14 -36 -11 N/A -41 -42 -30 -18 -23 5 -21 -41 -49 -35 -39 -28 -32 -49 N/A -15 -46 -5 N/A -27 -30 -16 -1 -27
-9 -10 -12 -2 -11 -3 -12 -17 1 N/A -3 -19 -10 -2 -30 -39 N/A -12 -11 -11 -3 -7 -18 -19 -4 -23 N/A N/A N/A -10 -8 -1 3 -21 N/A -34 -37 -15 -18 2 0 -9 -12 -43 -2 -6 -34 -15 -15 -13 -19
8th Grade Math NAEP vs. State Proficiency State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
2013-14 Gap
2014-15 Gap
-9 -35 -28 -36 N/A -10 N/A -35 -46 -16 -53 -28 N/A -24 -43 -39 N/A -15 -43 -16 -22 3 -5 -11 -46 -20 N/A -30 -9 -17 -23 -17 10 -6 -25 -40 -29 -28 -31 -21 -39 N/A -19 -48 -2 N/A -29 -14 -15 -6 -12
-10 6 1 8 -6 18 -1 -5 2 N/A -9 -9 -3 1 -14 -40 N/A -16 -14 2 12 -2 -3 -10 -6 -10 N/A N/A N/A 2 22 12 9 -10 N/A -18 -30 -9 6 20 -6 -4 -25 -43 -4 2 -36 -7 -4 2 -12
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Appendix: Additional 2013-14 and 2014-15 Comparison Tables 4th Grade Math NAEP vs. State Proficiency State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Assessments
2013-14 Gap 2014-15 Gap -15 -37 -22 -37 N/A -22 N/A -32 -31 -22 -43 -18 N/A -25 -31 -31 N/A -8 -50 -16 -34 6 -8 -11 -40 -4 N/A -32 -36 -14 -26 -12 -2 -9 -31 -30 -30 -24 -32 -21 -40 N/A -8 -30 -4 N/A -33 -13 -9 -5 1
-22 -4 -4 8 -6 13 -3 -10 3 N/A -4 -8 -5 9 -15 -36 N/A -9 -3 1 9 7 -7 -17 3 -11 N/A N/A N/A 2 7 9 -8 -12 N/A -20 -35 -7 1 10 -13 -4 -10 -29 -7 -2 -37 -7 -2 -3 -3
achieve.org 8th Grade Reading NAEP vs. State Proficiency State
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
2013-14 Gap
2014-15 Gap
-23 -53 -42 -47 N/A -26 N/A -38 -37 -24 -65 -44 N/A -20 -41 -38 N/A -14 -42 -33 -35 -31 -40 -15 -37 -15 N/A -41 -23 -34 -34 -37 1 -21 -40 -48 -43 -29 -37 -38 -38 N/A -14 -59 -3 N/A -34 -30 -23 2 -20
-18 0 -4 -5 -17 -3 -11 -18 -6 N/A -8 -21 -15 -3 -26 -41 N/A -18 -17 -12 -3 -18 -16 -16 -11 -22 N/A N/A N/A -13 -11 -3 -2 -23 N/A -32 -46 -21 -19 0 -19 -13 -17 -50 -5 -10 -39 -20 -16 -14 -16
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