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This year’s NAEP scores are out, and panic is in the air.
I don’t think they’re great news, but nor do I think the sky is falling.
I’m not convinced that students taking the NAEP really care about the results – their literally are no tangible rewards or consequences for doing well or poorly on them, unlike, for example, the SAT.
And that’s not just a “feeling” – there’s evidence to back that up:
NAEP folks, historically, DO NOT want schools playing up the stakes. There was fallout in Tennessee after a Super Bowl champion recorded an inspirational message encouraging students to try extra hard. I wrote about this in 2014: ewa.org/educated-rep…
— @emilysays (@emilysays.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 5:14 AM
And here’s research mentioned in that article that REALLY supports my thesis:
Looks like it’s here (download while you still can!): eric.ed.gov?id=EJ951108
— @emilysays (@emilysays.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 5:41 AM
Nevertheless, here are some decent articles and resources about this year’s test scores:
In an unequal society, students experience wildly different opportunities for and obstacles to learning
Adjusting NAEP scores for students’ demographic characteristics doesn’t account for all of the relevant confounding factors, but it’s an enormous improvement over merely looking at raw scores
— David Houston (@dmhouston.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 9:20 AM
New NAEP Scores Dash Hope of Post-COVID Learning Recovery www.the74million.org/article/new-…
— Greg Toppo (@gtoppo.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Again, NAEP tells you how test scores changed over time, which could have been due to a) improvements in the system OR b) changes in the student population over time. wtop.com/education/20…
— Betsy Wolf (@betsyjwolf.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 6:13 AM
There’s some good news in math, mostly bad news in reading and lots of questions about why students are still struggling.
— NPR (@npr.org) January 29, 2025 at 5:35 AM
New: After pandemic-era declines, there’s been little progress on national tests since—in fact reading scores have fallen even further.
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ…
— Matt Barnum (@mattbarnum.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 4:07 AM
This should be read every year: Friends don’t let friends misuse NAEP data
Here are some of my past posts on previous NAEP scores:
The Headlines You See Today About NAEP Scores Don’t Tell The Whole Story….
THE BEST ANALYSES OF THIS YEAR’S NAEP TEST REPORT
“‘School Leaders Have 99 Problems, But NAEP Scores Ain’t One’”
This year’s NAEP scores are out, and panic is in the air. I don’t think they’re great news, but nor do I think the sky is falling. I’m not convinced that students taking the NAEP really care about the results – their literally are no tangible rewards or consequences for doing well or poorly best of the year, school reform Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…
