New NCES Report: The Nation's Report Card: Writing 2007
This new National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) report,The Nation’s Report Card: Writing 2007, presents results from the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam in writing. According to the report, average scores have increased significantly for both eighth- and twelfth-grade students since previous assessments in 1998 and 2002. Indeed, since 2002, the percentage of students performing at or above the Basic level of achievement has risen in both grades, increasing from 85% to 88% in eighth-grade and 74% to 82% in twelfth-grade. Moreover, most student groups have improved their scores since the last test, including African-American students in both grades and Hispanic students in eighth-grade. Yet, there has been no change in the percentage of students reaching the higher Proficient level, and whites continue to outperform African-American and Hispanics by large margins at both grade levels.
In addition to the national results, the latest NAEP exam offers results for 46 states and jurisdictions and 10 large urban districts that voluntarily participated at the eighth-grade level. Of the 39 states and jurisdictions that participated in both 2002 and 2007, average scores increased for 20, while scores decreased for only one; 18 showed no significant changes. Similarly, three of the four urban districts that participated in both 2002 and 2007 increased their scores significantly, and all reduced the percentage of students performing Below Basic. For more information on this NCES report, click on the URL link below.
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