ATLANTA – Eighty-two percent of fourth-graders in the 16 Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states scored at or above the Basic level in math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in 2011 — matching the nation — results released yesterday show. Seventy percent of eighth-graders scored at or above Basic in math in the SREB region, 2 percentage points lower than the nation. The SREB region and the nation increased the percentages of both fourth- and eighth-graders scoring at or above the Basic level on math by 1 percentage point since 2009.
The percentage of fourth-graders reading at or above the Basic level declined in eight SREB states. The percentage of eighth-graders reading at or above Basic increased in 10 SREB states over the period. The region as a whole continued to trail the nation in both fourth- and eighth-grade reading.
Often called The Nation’s Report Card, NAEP is taken by a representative sample of students in each state and was taken in 2011 by about 385,000 students nationwide, the National Center for Education Statistics reported.
Math Results
Twelve of the 16 SREB states saw higher percentages of public school eighth-graders scoring at or above the Basic level in math on the NAEP in 2011 than in 2009: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
Eleven of the 16 SREB states saw gains in the percentage of eighth-graders scoring at or above the more difficult Proficient level in math during the same period. Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia had 4 percentage-point gains. Alabama, Delaware and Maryland held steady, while Florida and Tennessee declined by 1 percentage point each.
In fourth grade, 13 SREB states saw gains in the percentages of students scoring at or above the Basic level in math since 2009. Alabama saw a 5 percentage-point gain, while Kentucky went up 4 percentage points. Half of the SREB states saw 1 percentage-point increases. Fourteen SREB states increased the percentage scoring at or above the more difficult NAEP Proficient level in 2011. Maryland saw the region’s largest gain of 4 percentage points, and seven SREB states had gains of 3 points.
"Our states showed solid progress on this important national measure of student achievement," said Joan M. Lord, the SREB vice president for Education Policies. "Still, states need to pick up the pace to meet our region’s goal of having all students score at the Basic level and even higher percentages than the nation score at Proficient."
Reading Results
In reading, seven SREB states topped the national percentage of fourth-graders reading at or above the Basic level: Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. Alabama and Maryland saw 5 percentage-point gains at or above Basic since 2009 — the greatest gains in the nation.
Fourth-graders in six states topped the nation in reading at or above the Proficient level: Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia.
Four SREB states also exceeded the national percentage of eighth-graders reading at both the Basic and Proficient levels: Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland and Virginia. North Carolina and South Carolina saw 4 percentage-point gains since 2009 — the second highest gains in the nation.
For analysis and comments on your state’s results, contact SREB Communications.
The Southern Regional Education Board, or SREB, based in Atlanta, 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. More information is available online at www.sreb.org.
