NAEP: City Kids' Math, Reading Scores Unimproved Since 2009 Tests

By: Lindsey Christ

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According to numbers released Wednesday by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, math and reading scores among city fourth and eighth graders have not changed since the last tests given in 2009, highlighting what Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the "very difficult problem" of education. NY1's Lindsey Christ filed the following report.

Frequent changes to state math and reading tests over the past few years have made them practically useless as a gauge of whether students are doing better or worse, but every other year they take a test that's seen as a far more reliable yardstick: the National Assessment of Education Progress.

It's known as the Nation's Report Card, but one could also call it a report card on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s education reforms. The latest results suggest early progress has stagnated.

“Teachers are working as hard as they can. Parents are working as hard as they can. But it's a very difficult problem,” said Bloomberg.

The assessment tests a sample of fourth and eighth graders across the country. Since the last test in 2009, math scores in New York have declined slightly and eighth grade reading scores saw a small bump, but the changes weren't big enough to be considered statistically significant.

Since 2003, scores are up in most categories, but officials admit that progress was easier early on.

“As you go deeper into the work, it gets harder. It's not something you can do in five years,” said Shael Polakow-Suransky, the Department of Education’s chief accountability officer.

Most city students still aren't doing well. Just 32 percent of fourth graders were proficient in math and 29 percent in reading. For eighth graders, only 24 percent were proficient in both subjects.

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and his deputies say reforms that are already underway, like instituting a new curriculum and focusing on middle schools, should improve future results.

“I think we need to do a lot more writing with our kids in the classroom. We need to expose kids to really rigorous texts,” said Polakow-Suransky.

But Bloomberg admits he's disappointed.

“I had hoped they'd go up. We are doing better than the state. We have made significant progress back from ‘03. Are we where we want to be? No. I think it just goes to show, education is a very difficult problem,” said Bloomberg.

Since 2003, the city's results have been catching up with the scores for the rest of the state, although the achievement gaps between white and Asian students and their black and Hispanic classmates have not been closing.