Iowa's school report card scores deemed 'a call to action'

Iowa's fourth and eighth grade students outpaced the national average in math and reading at both grade levels, according to 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress results -- but only slightly -- drawing concern from state education leaders.

The average score for Iowa fourth graders in math was 243 points, while the national average was 240. However, the state's fourth graders posted the same results in 2009 and 2007.

The state's eighth graders also repeated the 2009 average math score of 285 points. The 2011 national average for eighth grade math is 283.

The scale for the NAEP test is 1 to 500.

Iowa's fourth and eighth grade reading scores remained unchanged from 2009 at 221 and 265, respectively. The national average was 220 for fourth grade students and 264 for eighth graders.

“I had hoped that the results would show the tide is turning in Iowa – that the state had begin accelerating and improving on these key measures,” Iowa Department of Education Director Jason Glass said in a news release. “Unfortunately, that's not the case.”

NAEP exams, also known as the nation's report card, are the only state-by-state comparison of student progress. Glass called Iowa's results a call to action.

“We have a system problem that we need to address,” Glass said in a press conference Tuesday.

Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and Glass introduced a set of reforms last month to improve Iowa's education system. The reforms focus on teachers and school leaders, increased student accountability and education innovation.

One widely-discussed aspect of the plan concerns third grade reading. The blueprint would require third grade students to take a reading assessment each spring. The results of this test would determines if they advance to fourth grade.

The proposal is based on reforms Florida adopted in 2002. The state has seen an increase in its fourth grade students' reading scores since then – from 208 in 1992 to 225 in 2011 – an achievement Branstad and other leaders have touted in statewide town hall meetings regarding the blueprint.

However, Florida's NAEP scores show a decrease for the state's eighth grade students. Florida's average score was 262 this year, a two-point decrease from the state's high of 264 in 2009. The score is also lower than the national average.

Unlike the Iowa Assessments, which test all students in certain grades, NAEP tests are administered to a sample group of public school students. In Iowa, about 3,000 students in 100 schools took the tests.

The reading assessment asked students to respond to questions designed to measure their reading comprehension on two types of texts: literary and informational. The mathematics assessment is designed to measure what students know and can do across five math content areas: number properties and operations; measurement; geometry; data analysis, statistics and probability; and algebra.

This year's scores showed little progress in Iowa's attempts to close the achievement gap.

According to the fourth grade reading scores, the state's African American students had an average score that was 32 points lower than white students, and a wider gap than the 18 point difference in 1992.

Hispanic students' scores were 24 points lower than white students, while students eligible for free and reduced-price lunches had average scores that were 26 points lower than students not eligible for the program.

According to the math results, Iowa fourth grade African American students had an average score that was 21 points lower than white students. Hispanic students' scores were 17 points lower. Students eligible for free and reduced-price lunches had an average scores that was 17 points lower than students not eligible for the program.

The eighth grade reading results show that Iowa's African America students achieved an average scores that was 21 points lower than white students. Hispanic students' average score was 16 points lower than white students, while students eligible for the free and reduced-price lunch program had an average score that was 19 points lower than students who don't qualify for the program.

Iowa's eighth grade math scores show that African American students had an average score 30 points lower than white students, while Hispanic students' scores were 20 points lower. Students who qualify for the free and reduced-price lunch program  an average score 23 points lower than students not eligible for the program.