Many Southern States Show Among Highest Gains
In the Nation for Reading, Mathematics Achievement
ATLANTA – Two member states of the Southern Regional Education Board provide students with some of the nation’s best chances for educational success and many SREB states can boast some of the nation’s most significant improvements in reading and mathematics achievement, according to a new report by the publisher of Education Week.
Virginia received the nation’s best rating on the “Chance-for-Success Index,” a new measure published by Education Week and developed by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center. Maryland’s rating on the index also ranked in the top five. Both states have some of the nation’s highest family income and educational attainment rates.
Many SREB states were ranked in the report as having some of the nation’s greatest improvements in reading and math achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Arkansas ranked second and Maryland fifth among eight SREB states in the top 20 for increases in NAEP fourth-grade math between 2003 and 2005. Arkansas was first in the nation among nine SREB states in the top 20 for gains in NAEP eighth-grade math. Louisiana was first in the nation among eight SREB states in the top 20 for gains in fourth-grade reading. Two SREB states, including fifth-place Delaware, were among the top 10 for gains in NAEP eighth-grade reading.
Other SREB states ranked lower overall, indicating the importance of continued work to improve education in the region — especially in states where family income and parents’ education levels traditionally have been below national levels.
Other highlights from the Quality Counts 2007 report pertaining to SREB states:
- Virginia and Maryland were two of only a handful of states scoring at or above the national average on at least 12 of the 13 key indicators used in the report. Delaware also scored at or above the national average in nine of the 13 categories. All of the other SREB states scored below the national average in a majority of categories, but no SREB state scored below the national average in every category. A majority of SREB states beat the national average for the percentages of adults ages 25 to 64 who work full time and year-round.
- Most SREB states also beat the national average for percentages of 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in preschool. Half the SREB states beat the national average for the percentage of students enrolled in kindergarten. The SREB Challenge to Lead Goals for Education, set by the region’s leaders in 2002, call for states to ensure that all students are ready for the first grade and that all high school graduates are well-prepared for postsecondary education and a career. More information about your state’s progress on the SREB Challenge to Lead Goals for Education is available at www.sreb.org.
- A majority of SREB states scored below the national average for Quality Counts’ indicators on family income, parent education levels and employment rates. Many of those same states also rank low in reading and mathematics achievement, high school graduation rates, and postsecondary participation and degrees earned. The SREB Challenge to Lead Goals for Education call for achievement in the early and middle grades to exceed national averages. The goals also call for all students to earn a high school diploma or pass GED tests. In addition, the goals call for the percentage of adults who earn postsecondary degrees or technical certificates to exceed national averages.
“Some of our states are national leaders in providing children opportunities to succeed. Others, especially those starting with lower levels of family income and parents’ education, understand that improved educational opportunity is the most powerful force in strengthening the social and economic conditions in a state,” SREB President Dave Spence said. “State leaders know we can’t have more prosperity without better educational opportunities. We’re showing progress in many areas, but we must work even harder to make sure all of our children have every opportunity to succeed.”
“What I find encouraging in this report is that SREB states dominate the categories showing substantial achievement gains in the last few years,” Spence said.
Spence also writes in a column in the Education Week report that all states need to develop an ambitious college- and career-readiness agenda. Such an agenda should include clear, detailed college-readiness standards, the use of high school tests to measure whether students are ready for college-level work, and intensive training for classroom teachers in using the standards and helping students meet them.
A new SREB report, High School to College and Careers: Aligning State Policies, details the ways states can proceed toward a stronger career- and college-readiness agenda and reviews all 16 SREB states’ high school graduation and testing policies. The report will be available today at www.sreb.org.
For more details on your state’s performance on the Quality Counts indicators, what the indicators mean, how other state indicators compare, and to speak with SREB staff about these topics, contact SREB Communications.
SREB, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, advises state education leaders on ways to improve education. SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region. SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Each is represented by its governor and four gubernatorial appointees.
