New scores add fuel to student-testing debate
by Pauline Liu
Times Herald-Record
November 1, 2015
The fallout is continuing over the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Scores for the tests nicknamed “the Nation’s Report Card” were released last week.
They showed a slight dip in performance since the tests in math and reading were last given to a sampling of fourth- and eighth-graders a couple of years ago.
Less than half of the students tested were able to read or solve math problems at acceptable performance levels.
Is this cause for alarm? Some groups think so.
“Not only are these troublesome statistics on their own, but what’s worse is that the U.S. continues to lag behind other countries, putting our nation’s well-being and economic security at risk,” said Kara Kerwin, president of The Center for Education Reform.
