Student Achievement Tests

Link To National Report

Exclusive Poll: Utah Teacher Shortage

Aug. 24, 2000

There is mixed news from the Education Department on student achievement test scores.

A national report finds steady progress in math, but less improvement in reading. Elementary school, junior high, and high school students-- across the board, an education department report shows three decades of improvement in math.

Gary Phillips, Nat'l Center for Education Statistics: "All three age groups have experienced overall patterns of improvement both in the short and long run."

Over a 30 year period, math scores are up six percent for nine year olds, just one percent for 17-year-olds.

Gains in reading and science are even smaller. But top education officials say changes in the groups taking the test need to be factored in.

Fewer dropouts, for instance, means more of those students are now test-takers.

Dick Riley/Education Secretary: "Those are your poorest students. Now they're included in taking the test. Same with disabled children and limited English proficient children."

Most disturbing in the report: Persistent gaps between white and African-American student performance. For all age groups, in all subjects, the gaps are wider now than they were in the late eighties.

Even as education experts have difficulty explaining that trend, presidential candidates vow to reverse it and to remedy other education ills.

Vice- Pres. Al Gore, D. Presidential nominee: "We need new accountability, new performance measurement, as I said smaller class size and modern schools."

George W. Bush, R. Presidential nominee: "I believe in raising standards, in raising the bar, and focusing resources the right way."

Polls show education is most Americans' top priority this election year, looking to score their candidates at the ballot box on their plans to boost scores in the classroom.

Secretary Riley says priorities include