Kentucky Department of Education

News Release 03-067 -- November 13, 2003

            (FRANKFORT, Ky.) -- The results of the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in reading show that Kentucky's 4^th and 8^th-graders scored above the national average, the Kentucky Department of Education announced today. 

            The scale score for 4^th-graders was 219, three points higher than the national average. The scale score for 8^th-graders was 266, five points higher than the national average.

2003 marked the first year NAEP was administered under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. Under NCLB, states applying for Title I funds must indicate that they plan to participate in NAEP.

            When comparing 2003 4^th-grade scale scores among jurisdictions, only eleven out of 53 outscored Kentucky. Kentucky's 4^th-graders scored significantly higher than 16 jurisdictions and about the same as 25. Kentucky's 8^th-graders scored significantly higher than 21 jurisdictions, lower than 7 and about the same as 24.

            "Even though the overall scores don't show large gains, the fact that both our 4^th- and 8^th-graders are outscoring the nation, on average, is news to celebrate," said Kentucky Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit. "This indicates that the state's focus on reading -- particularly at the early grades -- is paying dividends."

            While performance gaps continue to be of concern between subpopulations of students, the gap between students eligible for free or reduced price lunches and those students who are not eligible decreased by one point at the 4^th grade from 1998 to 2003 and four points at the 8^th grade from 2002 to 2003. 

In Kentucky, 64 percent of 4^th-graders and 78 percent of 8^th-graders scored at the Basic level or above. This indicates that, at a minimum, 4^th-grade students can:

+ demonstrate an understanding of what they read

+ make relatively obvious connections between the text and their own experiences

+ extend ideas in the text by making simple inferences.

 

       At a minimum, 8^th-graders scoring at Basic or above can:

+ demonstrate a literal understanding of what they read

+ make some interpretations

+ identify specific aspects of the text that reflect overall meaning

+ extend the ideas in the text by making simple inferences

+ recognize and relate interpretations and connections among ideas in the text to personal experience

+ draw conclusions based on the text

 

"One concern that I have about the NAEP assessments is the exclusion rates, which Department of Education staff and I are studying closely," said Wilhoit. "Of the 3,239 Kentucky 4^th-graders assessed in mathematics, about 291 were excluded. For 8^th-graders, 196 of the 2,800 assessed were excluded from the test."

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 are just beginning to add students with disabilities to their statewide testing rosters.

While NAEP did allow some accommodations on the reading test in 2003, 9 percent of the 4^th-graders and 7 percent of the 8^th-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 4^th-grade level in reading, forty-seven states and jurisdictions had lower rates of exclusion than Kentucky's (9%). Five states had equal or higher rates. The range was from 2 percent (Alabama and DoDEA/DoDDS) to 11 percent (Delaware and Texas). The average nationwide was 6 percent.

            At the 8^th-grade level in reading, forty-two states and jurisdictions had lower rates of exclusion than Kentucky's (7%). Ten had equal or higher rates. The range was from 1 percent (DoDEA/DoDDS) to 9 percent (Delaware, Virginia, and West Virginia). The average nationwide was 5 percent.

For more than thirty years, NAEP has been the country's only nationally representative and continuing survey of students' educational achievement.  Because the national NAEP samples were not designed to support the reporting of state-level results, state NAEP was introduced in 1990 to provide participating states reliable data concerning the achievement of their students. 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.

See more details about Kentucky's scores here.

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