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2009 Kansas NAEP Reading Scores Show No Significant Change
 
TOPEKA—March 24, 2010—The 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading results are being released today. Results of the NAEP exams are measured in two ways: 1) with an average scale score (0-500), and 2) with achievement levels: basic, proficient, and advanced.

Nationally, Grade 4 results are unchanged from 2007. The average scale score in 2009 remained at 220. Additionally, the percentage of students performing at or above basic remained unchanged from 2007 at 67 percent.
 
Kansas students continue to exceed the national score with the average scale score (224) remaining stable and not significantly different from the 2007 score (225). Seventy-two percent of Kansas students performed at or above the NAEP Basic level. This percentage is not significantly different than 2007. The average Grade 4 score in Kansas is lower than those in 6 states/jurisdictions, higher than those in 23 states/jurisdictions, and not significantly different from those in 22 states/jurisdictions.
 
Nationally, Grade 8 reading results reveal a pattern of steady increase. The average scale score in 2009 is 262, up from 261 in 2007 and 260 in 2005. Seventy-five percent of students performed at or above basic, an increase of one percent from 2007. Across the nation, no states demonstrated a decline in eighth-grade scores. Thirty-eight states and jurisdictions showed no significant change at either grade.
 
Again, Kansas’ average scale score of 267 remains above the national score. This score is unchanged from 2007. Eighty percent of students in Kansas performed at or above the NAEP Basic level, which shows no significant difference than that of 2007. The average Grade 8 score in Kansas is lower than those in 9 states/jurisdictions, higher than those in 20 states/jurisdictions, and not significantly different from those in 22 states/jurisdictions.
 
“I am extremely pleased with Kansas students as they continue to perform higher than the national average” remarked Interim Commissioner of Education Dr. Diane M. DeBacker. “As national scores maintain an upward pattern, I’m confident our students will rise to the challenge in the coming years and persist in outperforming the nation.”

The Nation’s Report Card: Reading 2009 and additional data collected from the 2009 reading assessments are available online at http://nationsreportcard.gov.

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