Ga. students improve reading, math scores; still lag nationally

By DORIE TURNER - Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA --Georgia's fourth and eighth graders have nearly caught up with the nation in reading but still lag in mathematics.

Georgia students performed better than they ever have on the National Assessment of Educational Progress - a federal test considered the best state-to-state measure of classroom progress.

State education officials heralded the NAEP scores as proof that Georgia's new curriculum is working. The students who took the NAEP test last year had been using new reading curriculum for two years, but the state did not implement its new mathematics curriculum for grades 4 and 8 until this school year.

"This is the first time that Georgia students have scored on a national level, but it won't be the last time," state schools Superintendent Kathy Cox said in a news release. "As we continue to implement and use the new curriculum, we expect to see this type of improvement on a regular basis."

Georgia's fourth graders scored an average of 219 on the reading test, just one point below the national average. That's up from 214 in 2005, the last time the test was given.

For eighth graders, the average reading score was 259, two points below the national average and an increase from 257 two years ago.

The math results were not as good.

Fourth graders scored a 235, four points below the national average and just one point better than two years ago. For eighth graders, the score was 272, six points below the national average and just two points improvement over the last test.

But a gap still exists between how students perform on the NAEP compared to state-administered tests used to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Georgia drew fire in spring 2006 from the Education Trust, a nonpartisan advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., for having state test scores that appeared inflated compared to NAEP scores. The group accused Georgia of making its Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests far easier than they should be.

For example, in 2005, 87 percent of Georgia fourth graders were considered "proficient" in reading on the state test but only 26 percent were proficient on the national test.

State officials say the two tests should not be compared because they are scored differently. Georgia uses three categories for scoring CRCT, while NAEP uses four categories, said state education department spokesman Dana Tofig.

"NAEP was never meant to be one-to-one comparison with local criterion-referenced tests," Tofig said.

At the time of the Education Trust report, state officials said they were working to toughen up the CRCT and overhaul the state's curriculum, which they hoped would address the problem.

Two years later, the gap still exists.

On CRCT, 85 percent of Georgia fourth graders are considered "proficient" or better, compared to 28 percent on the NAEP. In math, 78 percent of fourth graders are proficient, compared to 32 percent on the NAEP.

For eighth graders, 89 percent are considered at least proficient in reading, compared to 26 percent on the NAEP. In math, it's 81 percent compared to 25 percent.

Still, Georgia's gains on the NAEP should not be discounted, said Ross Wiener, a vice president with the Education Trust.

"There are results to be encouraged by in Georgia, especially in fourth grade reading, Wiener said. "NAEP is validating some of the changes Georgia has made."

The scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress will be scrutinized by state and federal policy makers looking for signs of whether the No Child Left Behind education law is working. The goal of that five-year-old law is to get all kids doing math and reading at their proper grade level by 2014.

NAEP tests are Congressionally mandated exams administered by the U.S. Department of Education.

The Central Georgian, 2007, Disclaimer..