Kentucky tops nation in reading progress

This from Toni Konz at C-J:

Kentucky is getting a gold star from the U.S. secretary of education for its reading progress.

The state’s fourth- and eighth-graders made greater gains in reading than any other state on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress, according to results released Wednesday.

The assessment, commonly referred to as the “nation’s report card,” shows that Kentucky’s eighth-graders scored an average of 267 on a 500-point scale on the test, compared with the national average of 262. The state’s fourth- graders scored an average of 226, compared with the national average of 220.

Kentucky was the only state that made significant increases at both grade levels in 2009. While Indiana students also registered increases, they were not considered to be significant.

Kentucky fourth-graders ranked seventh among states for average reading scores, while eighth-graders ranked 14th.

“This is very good news for Kentucky,” said Terry Holliday, the state’s education commissioner.

“We’ve been focusing so heavily on literacy over the past few years by working directly with teachers to improve instruction and to give them the training they need. I think that focus is starting to pay off.”

A handful of states showed slight improvements at one grade level, but not both. And 38 states or jurisdictions showed no significant change at either grade level.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told The Courier-Journal in a telephone interview Wednesday that Kentucky should be proud of its results.



“Kentucky has done lots of work to help lead the way nationally in terms of setting standards, measuring progress and holding schools accountable,” he said. “All that work is paying off and you are seeing real increases in student achievement.

...In Kentucky, 7,489 fourth- and eighth-graders from 316 schools were randomly selected to take the test.

Of that number, approximately 2,800 students in both grade levels from Jefferson County Public Schools were tested, said Bob Rodosky, director of testing and accountability for the district.

“I am really encouraged by the state’s results. and I would like to believe that Jefferson County had something to do with the rise of those scores,” he said.

...Last fall, Kentucky’s fourth-graders also made gains on the math portion of NAEP, scoring 239 points, up from 235 in 2007. The national average was 239. Eighth-graders scored 279, the same as in 2007, but three points below the national average of 282.