¶ … academic progress for American students: The Brown Report, and a report by the national Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
According to NAEP, reading scores over the decade stayed essentially the same, showing declines in the early years but gains later on. However, from 1994 on the trend was modestly upward. However, another analysis of the statistics suggested that reading gains are beginning to slow.
Math scores showed more significant gains than reading. The authors note that it is difficult to compare test scores between 1990 and 2000 in math because the curriculum shifted significantly during that time to programs including skill areas such as geometry and statistics at an earlier grade. The two tests were as a result significantly different.
The authors report that math curriculum continues to grow and change, with current thought that the curriculum should reflect real world applications for concepts taught. They also note a national commitment to some kind of accountability for education. Comparing American performance to other countries, U.S. students were approximately in the middle. The researchers looked at the many factors that might affect student performance over time.
One significant difficulty with this report is that to some extent it compares apples with oranges: math curriculum has shifted over time, significantly changing the content of tests. Most people are in favor of finding some accurate way to measure student performance, but this is particularly difficult in mathematics where the instructional curriculum is still in flux. In addition, while we want a national measure of achievement, we do not have a national curriculum. No doubt many school districts are still using older styles of instruction while others have moved on to programs that begin introducing algebraic, geometrical, statistical concepts as early as kindergarten. It leaves the reader wondering whether one test can be used to measure progress in the presence of such diversity.
