Last Updated on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 5:02 AM
News Release 08-025 - April 3, 2008
(FRANKFORT, Ky.) –The results of the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in writing show that Kentucky's 8th-graders continue to make some gains, the Kentucky Department of Education announced today.
In 2007, 46 out of 51 jurisdictions (states and Department of Defense schools) participated in the writing assessment nationwide. 2002 marked the first year Kentucky 4th graders participated in the NAEP writing assessment, but 4th graders were not part of the 2007 NAEP writing assessment. In 2002, the scale score for 4th-graders was 154, one point higher than the national average.
Kentucky 8th-graders’ 2007 scale score was 151, a gain of five points since 1998 and a gain of two points since 2002. The state’s scale score was three points lower than the national average of 154. The percentage of 8th-grade students in Kentucky who performed at or above the proficient level was 26 percent. This was greater than in 1998 (21 percent) and was not significantly different from 2002 (25 percent). Nationwide in 2007, 31 percent of 8th graders scored at the proficient level.
In 2007, the percentage of Kentucky 8th graders who performed at or above the basic level was 87 percent. This was greater than that in 1998 (84 percent) and was not significantly different from that in 2002 (85 percent). Nationwide in 2007, 87 percent of 8th graders also scored at or above basic.
Kentucky's 8th graders scored significantly higher than 8 jurisdictions, lower than 21 and about the same as 16.
While girls continue to score higher than boys in 8th-grade writing, the achievement gap between Kentucky white and African American 8th graders narrowed in 2002 and again in 2007. In 1998, white students outscored African American students by 19 points. In 2002, that gap was reduced to 13 points, and in 2007, the gap was reduced to 12 points. Kentucky's African American 8th graders also outscored the nation’s 8th grade African Americans in 2007.
8TH-GRADE WRITING SCALE SCORES BY GENDER AND RACE – KENTUCKY AND NATION
KENTUCKY/NATION
Males
1998 135/138
2002 138/141
2007 142/144
Females
1998 157/158
2002 161/162
2007 161/164
White
1998 148/155
2002 150/159
2007 153/162
African American
1998 129/130
2002 137/134
2007 141/140
Kentucky's 8th-graders performed similarly to the nation at the basic, proficient and advanced levels.
% OF 8TH GRADERS AT OR ABOVE PERFORMANCE LEVELS – KENTUCKY AND NATION
KENTUCKY/NATION – PERCENT AT OR ABOVE
Below Basic
1998 16/17
2002 15/16
2007 13/13
Basic
1998 84/83
2002 85/84
2007 87/87
Proficient
1998 21/24
2002 25/30
2007 26/31
Advanced
1998 1/1
2002 1/2
2007 1/2
At a minimum, 8th graders scoring at basic or above can:
- demonstrate appropriate response to the task in form, content and language
- maintain a consistent focus
- respond appropriately to the task
- demonstrate organization appropriate to the task
- use supporting details
- demonstrate sufficient command of spelling, grammar, punctuation and capitalization to communicate to the reader
For more than 30 years, NAEP has been the country's only nationally representative and continuing survey of students' educational achievement. The assessment is authorized by Congress, directed by NCES and developed by Educational Testing Service of Princeton, New Jersey. Westat, Inc. of Rockville, Maryland, conducts sample selection and data collection.
NAEP protects the confidentiality of students, teachers and schools that participate by not reporting individual student, teacher or school data. NAEP provides results for major demographic groups, and states that meet NAEP reporting criteria are able to compare their results with both national results and the results of other states.
INFORMATION ABOUT EXCLUSION RATES
NAEP reports data based on whether accommodations were allowed in the testing process, meaning that students with disabilities and those considered to have limited English proficiency (LEP) can have special assistance in order to complete the test. Certain students may be excluded from the test, based on teacher recommendations using students' Individual Education Plans (IEPs).
Until recently, Kentucky was one of the few states that included students with disabilities in statewide assessments. Since 1990, Kentucky has tested nearly every public school student in the state, regardless of disability. Under newly-required federal regulations, other states have just begun to add students with disabilities to their statewide testing rosters.
While NAEP did allow some accommodations on the writing test in 2007, 6 percent of the 8th-graders in Kentucky who were selected to be in the sample were excluded. The fact that NAEP does not allow all the accommodations Kentucky students need and are allowed on the state's tests is one contributor to this rate. However, the exclusion rate is also inclusive of our students who participate in our Alternate Assessment Program, and NAEP does not offer an alternate assessment for these students.
At the 8th-grade level, 42 states, along with the Department of Defense schools, had lower rates of exclusion than Kentucky's. Three states, along with Massachusetts, Texas and Virginia had equal or higher rates. The range was from 1 percent (Hawaii and West Virginia) to 7 percent (Texas). The average nationwide was 3 percent.
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