Wisconsin fourth and eighth grade students are scoring better than the national average on math tests known as the nation’s report card.
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No state, nor any national subgroup of students, saw increases in math scores in both fourth and eighth grades.
Reading scores averaged 223 points for fourth grade, flat from two years ago, and 265 points for eighth graders, 2 points lower.
“I want to use these results as a guide for the areas where our students need to improve”, West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Michael Martirano said Wednesday in a news release. For eighth grade, the average score was 282 points, down 2 points. Among eighth graders, the 2015 score held steady from 2013, and was tied with three other states at the top.
West Virginia, however, saw its fourth-grade average math score drop from 237 to 235, and it saw its eighth-grade average math score decrease from 274 to 271. Only 34 percent of eighth-grade students were proficient or better in reading, a 2-point drop.
While Virginia’s scores were little changed from 2013, officials touted a steady rise among fourth-grade performance over the last two decades. The District of Columbia also showed increases in both. It was the only state with higher scores.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged parents, teachers, and others not to panic as states embrace higher academic standards, such as Common Core.
“We’ve been complacent with being at the top, and what we have to do is look deeper”, Cassellius said. “They’re being taught with a level of fidelity”.
The stagnant scores show Minnesota needs more of a focus on early literacy, Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius said. She also said that improved reading and math performance could go hand-in-hand.
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Despite a few successes in Virginia, significant disparities remain when it comes to achievement among white, black and Hispanic students.
