2017 NAEP: Summarizing Group Changes

| Post by Susan Perkins Weston |

Here's a summary of how Kentucky average scale scores changed from 2015 to 2017, using the NAEP data released yesterday.

I don't see any way to call this strong movement toward excellence with equity. All the statistically significant changes move downward.

Mind, I want excellence that's broader than NAEP can show us. I want the full richness of the standards we've set out to deliver for all our students in science, mathematics, English language arts and other subjects. I want the deep investigations, focused research, sustained problem solving, active teamwork, effective communication, and core disciplinary understandings we've promised our next generation. That richness can't be fully gauged by short assessments like NAEP (or KPREP or AP or IB or ACT either).

I'm not saying these NAEP results are full evidence of about all the capacities we want for our students.

I'm saying NAEP is partial evidence. NAEP gives us one useful snapshot of how Kentucky's students are doing on a fraction of the skills and knowledge they need. I'm also saying the 2017 snapshot does not show us on the track we want to be on.

That means it's important for us to understand this development. It's important to figure out what's happening to produce these downward trends, what changes in our schools could turn the trends around, and what kinds of statewide support we as citizens need to provide to our common schools to help them bring those changes to fruition.

Below, I've shown the detail behind the summary above, all using data and significance tests from he NAEP Data Explorer.