Achievement
We want all kids to do well and achieve. Articles in this section take a closer look at the achievement of particular groups, such as boys vs. girls, or students in a specific grade or socioeconomic group.
See additional sources of reading research.
Sort by: Date Title
Still At Risk: What Students Don't Know, Even Now
(2008) ©Common Core. All rights reserved.
This report reveals some damning statistics about U.S. teens' lack of knowledge of history and culture. For example, one-third do not know that the Bill of Rights guarantees the freedom of speech and religion and forty-four percent think The Scarlet Letter was either about a witch trial or a piece of correspondence.
The authors' attribute much of this ignorance to a curriculum focused on basic reading and math skills and preparation for high-stakes testing, but parental educational also has an impact on student knowledge-students with a college-educated parent scored significantly better than those without.
The Nation's Report Card: Trial Urban District Assessment Reading 2007
Lutkus, A., Grigg, W., and Donahue, P. (2007). The Nation's Reprot Card: Trial Urban District Assessment Reading 2007 (NCES 2008-455). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C.
Based on longitudinal testing data from fourth and eighth grade NAEP exams, this report summarizes results from Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, and other urban districts. The researchers compare proficiencies across districts, but also note lower profile results, such as districts showing a steadily rising percentage of students who have improved from below basic to basic proficiencies.
The Nation's Report Card: Writing 2007
U.S. Department of Education. Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics.
This report presents the results of the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) writing assessment, which was administered to a sampling of 8th and 12th graders in U.S. public and private schools. Average writing scores were higher in 2007 than in previous assessments in 2002 and 1998.
For 8th graders:
- The average writing score was 3 points higher than in 2002 and 6 points higher than in 1998.
- The percentage of students performing at or above the Basic level increased from 85 percent in 2002 to 88 percent and was also higher than in 1998
- The percentage of students performing at or above the Proficient level was higher than in 1998 but showed no significant change since 2002.
For 12th graders:
- The average writing score was 5 points higher than in 2002 and 3 points higher than in 1998.
- The percentage of students performing at or above the Basic level increased from 74 percent in 2002 to 82 percent and was also higher than in 1998.
- The percentage of students performing at or above the Proficient level was higher than in 1998 but showed no significant change since 2002.
Windows on Achievement and Inequality
Barton, P.E.,and Coley, R.J.,(2008). Windows on Achievement and Inequality.Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
This report explores achievement gap-data—from early language acquisition differences to trends in "the Nation's Report Card" data on math and reading proficiency to international rankings of achievement—and identifies some 14 factors that correlate with performance disparities.
