PRACTICE
WINNING
EVERY DAY Dr. Eric Mackey
Alabama State Superintendent of Education
It’s autumn in Alabama. As the leaves fall, school is back in session, and people are falling into their routines, there’s only one thing on the hearts and minds of Alabamians… that’s right – FOOTBALL!
elected officials, business representatives, and others the ability to make informed decisions concerning our strengths and areas in need of improvement in education.
Ok, ok – as educators there are more important concerns than football; however, football is a major part of the culture in this part of the world. And there’s a lot of symmetry between great football and great education. This year in particular, there is a specific goal for educators to aim for that requires the same kind of commitment to excellence that a championship team has.
Although individual students, schools, or even school districts are not graded – the state is. That’s why, although they may seem worlds apart, achieving high scores on the NAEP and winning a championship football game share some surprising similarities.
Once again, we are preparing to participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), coming January through March 2024! The NAEP is a congressionally mandated, national assessment in 4th and 8th grade reading and math, given to a portion of students in every state in America for the purpose of measuring student achievement throughout the country. Last year, Alabama made significant strides in 4th and 8th grade reading and math, going from 49th to 39th and 52nd to 40th in the nation respectively. Our goal is to continue to outpace most of the nation, just as Alabama did in 2022. NAEP is different from other assessments because it is the only test administered in every state and provides educators and policymakers with a common measure of student achievement. This allows education leaders, 10
Winter Issue 2024
