From: Nevada Department of Education
Carson City, NV – Tuesday, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released the fourth and eighth grade math and reading results from the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known as the Nation’s Report Card.
The report indicates that fourth grade math scores, as well as fourth and eighth grade reading scores, remained statistically the same in Nevada since 2013. Nevada is one of 14 states that showed a decline in eighth grade math scores, with a three-point decrease in average math scores compared to 2013. NAEP shows that 32 percent of fourth graders and 26 percent of eighth graders in Nevada performed at or above the NAEP proficient level in math and 29 percent of fourth graders and 27 percent of eighth graders performed at or above NAEP’s proficient level in reading.
Compared nationally, Nevada’s scores continue to remain below the average in all four subject and grade combinations. However, Nevada’s students maintained steady gains in fourth and eighth grade reading and fourth grade math that have been made over the past ten years. Moreover, a recent report released by the Urban Institute shows that Nevada’s students may be performing better than the Nation’s Report Card suggests, after adjustments are made to the raw scores for each state to account for student demographics. With the demographic adjustments to 2003 and 2013 NAEP scores, Nevada experienced the largest ten-year gain among all states.
“Unfortunately, Nevada’s scores on the Nation’s Report Card remain among the lowest in the nation,” says Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction Steve Canavero. “However, the overall trend lines of Nevada NAEP results continue to rise and I am interested to see how Nevada’s 2015 scores compare with demographic adjustments. The Urban Institute report shows that a state’s student demographics, including poverty, race and native language, can affect trends in performance on NAEP, and Nevada has experienced one of the most rapid shifts in student demographics. Recognizing the needs of our diverse student population, Nevada’s 2015 Legislature and Governor Sandoval have invested in many new initiatives and programs supporting diverse students at every grade. As we implement these important initiatives, I expect to see gains in student performance.”
NAEP is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of student achievement in various subject areas. NAEP assesses representative samples of students in all 50 states and reports state-level results at grades 4 and 8. In Nevada, 2,200 students were randomly selected in grade 4 to take a NAEP reading or mathematics test, and 2,300 students were randomly selected in grade 8 to take a reading or mathematics test.
NAEP is governed by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) and is conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), which is part of the U.S. Department of Education. Results are confidential and the names of the students who participate in NAEP never leave the school. In Nevada, results are only reported for the state as a whole or as part of the national results. To see the full Nation’s Report Card, go to http://nationsreportcard.gov.
From: Nevada Department of Education
