New numbers out this week from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show Hispanic students in Idaho making big improvements in reading. The NAEP from The U.S. Department of Education is known as “The Nation’s Report Card.” Its periodic assessments look at how students are doing on standardized tests in various subjects. The most recent report looks at reading vocabulary scores of fourth and eighth graders in 2011.
Idaho fourth graders did better than the national average but not significantly better than the 2009 results. Fourth graders nationwide showed little improvement.
2011’s eighth graders also topped national averages. Most didn’t outpace 2009’s group by much, but Hispanic students improved by nearly 13 points. That’s the largest jump of any group in the country. But Idaho’s Hispanic eighth graders are still below the national and Idaho averages for all students in reading vocabulary.
Among Idaho’s neighbors Montana saw some improvement with white eighth graders. Nevada showed the most overall improvement of any state with gains for white, black and Hispanic students. But despite improvement Nevada students still scored below national averages.