Dive Brief:

• The National Assessment of Educational Progress released The Nation’s Report Card Wednesday and the results aren't looking good.  
• NAEP last assessed high school seniors in 2009 and, despite various new education reforms, scores were fairly stationary in both reading and math. Only 37% of high school seniors were proficient in reading, and just over a quarter were proficient in math.  
• That report also indicates the achievement gap has widened between white and minority students, with a 30-point gap between black and white students in reading and math, as well as a 21-point gap between Hispanic and white students in math and a 22-point gap in reading.   

Dive Insight:

The NAEP is mandated by the federal government every four years for high school seniors and every two years for 4th and 8th graders. And every time the scores are released, it causes quite a stir. The 2009 scores evoked what New York University education scholar Diane Ravitch described in her latest book, Reign of Error, as "a sense of crisis."  

That is not to say these findings should not be analyzed and questioned, but it does mean that they should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt. NAEP is not given often and most schools don't build it up with kids the way they would their state standardized tests — which means the reality is that most kids are not necessarily giving the exam their all. Individual schools and individual students are never given their scores and it ultimately measures the state, so the investment level on the test is not very high.  

What is more interesting about the scores is what they will mean for education reform. Since many of the current reforms were created in response to the exam's 2009 scores, and since the new report card is not indicating much or any improvement, does that mean some of the reforms have failed? In terms of the achievement gap, the report shows it remains wide.

Another frightening fact that the exam revealed: Despite scores of high school seniors lagging, minority graduation rates have risen dramatically. In 2006, only 15% of Hispanic students graduated, but that percentage is now 68%. During that same time period, the graduation rate for African-American students rose from 9% to 68%. The rate for White students hovers at 85%. The federal government has made massive pushes for an increase in graduation rates (remember what happened with Mississippi?), but are we actually ensuring our students are ready to graduate and are prepared for college?  The report card highlights a disconnect.