News Releases
Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 19, 2003
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Gov. Gary Locke Applauds Improved State Reading Scores in National Report Card

Gov. Gary Locke today credited the state’s tough new academic standards and the hard work of students and teachers for further improvements in reading scores in the latest nationwide report card. The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) today released the Nation’s Report Card for Reading 2002, in which Washington students scored above the national average in both 4th and 8th grades.

“Reading is the key to all academic success,” Locke said. “I am pleased to see that Washington students are showing steady improvement in their reading achievement, especially compared to other states. We’ve made great gains in reading in our state but there is more work to be done.”

The NAEP reading assessment is administered every four years to a sampling of students across the nation in 4th and 8th grades and contains both multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. More than 270,000 students participated in the 2001-02 school year, including, for the first time, a small sampling of 12th grade students.

The reading assessment reports on how well students perform when they are asked to read various texts and respond to questions based on those texts. In constructed-response questions, students are asked to read a passage and write a response, explaining and supporting their ideas with information from the passage. In 2002, the assessment included a total of 23 reading passages.

In Washington state, student achievement is higher in both 4th and 8th grades than in previous years. In 2002, 4th grade scale scores were 224, compared to 218 in 1998. At the 8th grade level, scale scores in 2002 were 268, compared to 264 in 1998. There were no scores available in Washington state at the 12th grade level.

Washington students are also above the national average. In 2002, the state scale score for 4th grade was 224, compared to the nation’s scale score of 217. The state scale score for 8th grade was 268, compared to the nation’s scale score of 263.

The assessments are based on frameworks in each subject area. NAEP classifies students in three categories:
·Basic - partial mastery of knowledge and skill;
·Proficient – solid academic performance; and
·Advanced – superior performance.

The percentage of Washington students performing at or above the Proficient level is improving. At the 4th grade level, the percentage of Washington students ranked in the Proficient and above categories rose from 30% in 1998 to 35% in 2002. At the 8th grade level, the percentage rose from 32% in 1998 to 37% in 2002.

Washington also compares favorably with other states in this category. In 2002, the state percentage of 4th grade students ranked at the Proficient and above levels was 35%, compared to the national percentage of 30%. At the 8th grade level, Washington students ranked 37% in 2002, compared to the national percentage of 31%.

NAEP’s student sample includes those with disabilities and those with limited proficiency in English. While Washington students from all ethnic groups and those eligible for free or reduced price lunch made improvements on the assessment, the achievement gap remains evident among historically underachieving groups.

“This achievement gap is unacceptable, and we are working to close it,” Locke said. “Our test scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) are rising. However, we need to insure that a good education is a universal right. It must never depend on circumstances of social or economic standing.”


Related Links:
- Governor's Web site
- National Assessment of Education Progress Web site


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