Game-changing steps needed to improve Wisconsin reading

Alan Borsuk:

The new results once again underscore how true it is that the reading proficiency of African-American students is in a crisis. But the smugness about kids elsewhere in the state, especially white kids, is misguided.

Here are a few slices of how Wisconsin kids did in the latest round of National Assessment of Educational Progress tests:

White fourth-graders scored below the national average for white kids by a statistically significant amount. White eighth-graders scored exactly at the national average.
Wisconsin fourth-graders who don't qualify for free or reduced-price lunch - that is to say, who aren't poor - scored below the national average for such kids, again by a significant amount. Eighth-graders were, again, exactly at the national average.
Only 35% of Wisconsin eighth-graders were rated as proficient or advanced readers. The figures haven't budged since at least 1998.
(In fairness, the national figure is 32%, and it hasn't budged in a long time, either. But there are states such as Massachusetts and Florida, where there have been significant improvements.)

NAEP is a strict grader - Wisconsin's own tests last year rated 86% of eighth-graders proficient or advanced. Some argue NAEP is too strict. However, it uses the same measuring stick for everyone, so comparisons to other states and the nation are fair.

Related: Comparing Rhetoric Regarding Texas (10th) & Wisconsin NAEP Scores: Texas Hispanic and African-American students rank second on eighth-grade NAEP math test; and Wisconsin 25th in 2011 NAEP Reading.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at November 7, 2011 4:45 AM
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