Where did Idaho improve on its national report card?
The nation’s report card is in, and Idaho scores show the Gem state is stable and solid, even showing some improvement. It even prompted the Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction to say she is overall pleased with the scores.
“The reading scores did go up, especially in fourth grade,” said Jason Lords, the Director of Instruction and Learning for Bonneville Joint School District 93. “They were better than they were in 2013, and so they kind of go up and down depending on the assessment, but in 2013 our reading scores were better. Math stayed about the same.”
The latest scores of the National Assessment of Educational Progress for fourth and eighth graders were released earlier this week, it in fact did show that Idaho did make some improvements.
“Our teachers are working hard, our teachers are looking at current trends in education and looking at instruction and trying to do what’s best for each of their individual students,” explained Lords.
According to data from the NAEP; in 2017, 39% of fourth and eighth graders were proficient in reading, which is up 3% and 2% from 2015.
Math scores were almost even as well. Fourth graders scored 40% proficiency this past year, which is a 2% increase from 2015. While eighth graders also improved 2% this past year, with 36% proficiency compared to 2015’s score of 34%.
“Our teachers are focused on those standards,” said Lords. “Focused on those essential standards and that’s what the students are being assessed on.”
With those improved scores almost all across the board, there was something else these results had in common.
“Compared to the nation, our students scored very well,” said Lords.
Idaho’s students scored just a little higher than the national average overall.
These scores still make Idaho’s school districts want to strive for more.
“Even if we were 95% proficient we would be trying to improve,” said Lords. “That’s just the nature of education and the nature of teachers and educators.”.
The NAEP is a closely watched exam, because a cross-section of students across the nation take the test every two years. The test allows comparisons between states, and comparisons over time. Students took the test between January and March 2017.
