NAEP Scores – Lather, Rinse, Repeat

The Nation’s report card is out. And we should be expecting a request for a parent:teacher conference. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment scores for 2017 were released recently (NAEP Report) and the results are akin to an octopus on roller skates – we’ve spent a lot of energy but haven’t moved much (thinking eight arms flailing with little to no progress). After reviewing the report summary and a few op-eds^[1],[2],[3], I’d like to highlight a few points and then will key in on two specifically. In no particular order, I found the following interesting:

• With the exception of 8th grade reading, over the last decade, the top performing students increased the gap when compared to those performing in the bottom percentiles. In laymen’s terms – the high achievers are increasing their performance while those lower on the spectrum are actually declining.
• Approximately 80% of the assessment takers in 2017 used digital devices; there is some speculation based on preliminary comparisons by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy between digital and pen/paper delivery that a mode effect reduced performance in those districts where students are not accustomed to taking assessments on digital devices.
• Average reading scores in 8th grade eked out a 1 point increase while 4th grade reading and both mathematics groups remained flat.
• Florida was the only state/jurisdiction to increase scores in 4th AND 8th grade mathematics between 2015 and 2017. Compared with Alaska and Vermont which were the only two states to have score decreases in both grades.
• No state/jurisdiction improved reading scores across both grades nor did any decline across both populations.

Given the amount of money the United States has pumped into education and the amount of focus on education reform over the recent administrations (NCLB, ESSA, etc.), it’s obviously disconcerting to see results like these. For context, the US spends almost 50% more than the average OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) country on a per student basis for education^[4]. And ranks around 25^th (depending on the subject) worldwide in performance^[5].

Couple these results with the growing need for skills measured in the technically demanding workplace of the 21^st century, it begs the question: what’s the solution? Recruit better talent to teach? Probably part of it.  Increase rigor? Maybe. Enhance student engagement? Most definitely. (The challenge is less about what and more about the ‘how’?)  All of these have been offered up and solutions proposed. Some would even say the (sun)shining bright spot in Florida would indicate there is a combinatorial solution if we choose to select and stick with it. (Perhaps persistence with a given vision is important and should be validated by overlaying points and frequency by which large scale curriculum changes were implemented and thus have impacted the trajectory of test scores)

Along the lines of alternative thinking to validate, I ran across an interesting piece implying family structure as a root cause that needs to be explored (as to why investments are not paying dividends). The author provides a very interesting thesis that the answer has been right in front of us for decades and we’ve been continually ignoring the obvious; (paraphrasing in generalities) high-achievers with largely more stable family backgrounds are reaping the benefits of educational investment and improving while those in the demographics that traditionally underperform are worsening due to continually declining family structure. While I don’t have a grounded opinion one way or the other personally, it would be interesting to design question(s)/survey(s) to test this. After all, isn’t the definition of insanity to do something over and over but expect different results? Our education system (and the students it serves) need to think differently or continue to reap the mediocre results we’re seeing at local, state, and national levels. Personally, after thinking about the author’s claims, I’m going to err on the safe side and start building back in some structured family time with my kids – starting with no device family dinners where we discuss only their days and some dedicated family activities like game night. After all, other than getting beat by my son at chess, what can it hurt?