32
The percentage of American fourth-graders reading Below Basic — or functionally illiterate — on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress, the federal test of student and school achievement. That is a mere one-point decline from 2011, but a seven-point decline from 2002. Meanwhile 35 percent of American fourth-graders were reading at Proficient and Advanced levels, a one percentage point increase over 2011 and a four percentage point gain since 2002.
22
The percentage of eighth-graders reading Below Basic on NAEP in 2013. This is a two-point decline from 2011 and a three-point decline from 2002. Meanwhile 36 percent of eighth-graders read at Proficient and Advanced levels, a three percentage point decline from 2011 and 2002.
35
The percentage of all young male fourth-graders who were functionally illiterate in 2013, a four-point decline from 2002, but a mere one point drop from 2011. Just 32 percent of young male fourth-graders read at Proficient and Advanced levels in 2012, a one percentage point increase from 2011, and a four percentage point increase from 2002. Meanwhile, 28 percent of young female fourth-grade classmates read Below Basic in 2013, a one point decline from 2011 and a five percentage point decline from 2002; 39 percent of young female fourth-graders read at Proficient and Advanced levels, a three percentage point increase over 2011 and a five percentage point increase from 2002.
26
The percentage of all young male eighth-graders reading Below Basic in 2013, a two-point decline from 2011 and a three percentage point decline from 2002. Thirty-one percent of young men heading into high school read at Proficient and Advanced levels, a two percentage point increase from levels in 2011 and a three percentage point decline from 2002. Meanwhile 18 percentage female eighth-graders were functionally illiterate in 2013 a two point decline 2011 and 2002. Forty-two percent of young female eighth-graders reading at Proficient and Advanced levels, an increase from increased from 39 percent in 2011 and from 38 percent in 2002.
50
The percentage of black fourth-grade students reading Below Basic in 2013. This is a one percentage point drop from 2011, but a 10 percent drop from 2002. This, by the way, is a faster decline in illiteracy than the four percentage point decline in white fourth-graders reading Below Basic (from 25 percent in 2002 to 21 percent in 2013); the percentage of white fourth-graders struggling with literacy declined by one percentage point between 2011 and 2013. Seventeen percent of black fourth-graders reading at Proficient and Advanced levels, a one percent increase over 2011, and a four percentage point increase over 2002; 36 percent of white students read at Proficient and Advanced levels, a two percentage point increase over 2011 and a five point increase over 2002
47
The percentage of Latino fourth-graders reading Below Basic in 2013, a two-percent decline over 2011, and a nine percentage point decline from 2002. 20 percent of Latino fourth-graders read at Proficient and Advanced levels, a one percentage point increase over 2011 and a five percentage point increase over 2002. Twenty percent of Asian fourth-graders were functionally illiterate in 2013, unchanged from 2011, but a 10 percent decline from 2002; 52 percent of Asian students read at Proficient and Advanced levels, a three percent increase from 2011 and a 15 percent increase from 2002.
49
The percentage of American Indian and Alaska Native fourth-graders reading Below Basic, a four percentage point decline from 2011, but virtually unchanged from 2002. Twenty-one percent of Native fourth-graders read at Proficient and Advanced levels in 2013, a three percent increase from 2011, but a one percent decline from 2002.
32
The percentage of Latino eighth-graders reading Below Basic in 2013, a four-point decline from 2011 and an 11 percentage point decline from 2002. Thirty-nine percent of black eighth-graders read Below Basic, a two percentage point decline from 2011 and a six point decline from 2002. Fourteen percent of white peers were functionally illiterate (a one percentage point from 2011 and a two percentage point decline from 2002), while 14 percent of Asian eighth-graders read Below Basic (a three percentage point decline from 2011 and a 10 percentage point drop from 2002). Thirty-eight percent of Native students read Below Basic, a one percentage point increase over 2011, and a mere two percentage point decline over 2002 .
17
The percentage of black eighth-graders reading at Proficient and Advanced levels in 2013, a two percentage point increase over 2011, and a three percentage point increase over 2002. Twenty-one percent of Latino peers read at Proficient and Advanced levels, a two percentage point increase over 2011 and a five percentage point increase over 2002. Forty-six percent of white eighth-graders read at the highest levels of proficiency, a one percentage point increase over 2011 and a five percentage point gain over 2002; while 52 percent of Asian peers read at Proficient and Advanced levels, a five percentage point increase over 2011, and a 16 percentage point increase over 2002. Meanwhile 19 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native students read at Proficient and Advanced levels, a three percent decline over 2011, but a one percent increase over 2002.
47
The percentage of fourth-graders eligible for free- and-reduced lunch reading Below Basic in 2013. That is a one percentage point decline from levels of functional illiteracy in 2011 and a seven-point decline from 2002. Seventeen percent of fourth-graders not eligible for free- and reduced-lunch plans were functionally illiterate, a one percentage point decline from two years ago and a six-point decline from the same period in 2002.
34
The percentage of eighth-graders eligible for free- and reduced lunch who were functionally illiterate in 2013. That is three percentage point decline from levels in 2011 and a six-point decline in functional illiteracy since 2002. Thirteen percent of eighth-graders not eligible for free- and reduced-lunch were functionally illiterate, a one percentage point decline from 2011 and a three-point decline from the same period eleven years ago.
27
The percentage of fourth-grade suburbanites who are functionally illiterate in 2013, a mere one percent decline from both 2011 and 2007, when the U.S. Department of Education began breaking NAEP data by location of school and district; 39 percent of fourth-graders in suburban districts read at Proficient and Advanced levels, a mere one percent increase from both 2011 and 2007. Thirty-nine percent of fourth-graders attending urban schools scored Below Basic in 2011, a one point drop from the levels four years ago; 30 percent of urban students read at Proficient and Advanced levels, a one percent increase from 2011 and a two percent increase from 2007.
29
The percentage of rural fourth-graders were functionally illiterate. While unchanged from 2011, it is a two percent decline from 2007; 36 percent of rural fourth-graders were reading at Proficient and Advanced levels, unchanged from 2011, but a three percentage point increase from 2007. Thirty-two percent of fourth-grade town students read Below Basic in 2011, a four percentage point decline from 2011, and a two-point decline since 2007; 33 percent of fourth-grader town students were highly literate in 2013, a three percent increase from both 2011 and 2007.
There is good news — and a clarion call for action — from the results of the 2013 NAEP. The good news is that 256,795 fewer fourth-graders are functionally illiterate and on the path to despair than in 2002, the year after the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, based on Dropout Nation‘s estimates of federal enrollment data. While one must be cautious in ascribing these improvements to the reforms spurred by the passage of No Child (after all, NAEP isn’t fine-tuned to measure specific policies), the data gives evidence that there have been benefits from the law, which brought accountability to American public education, forced revelations of inflated graduation rates, and showed the poor performance of suburban districts in improving student achievement for all kids (including those from poor and minority backgrounds).
The benefits have not just come for poor and minority children. With 149,817 more fourth-graders reading at Proficient and Advanced levels, systemic reform efforts focused on stemming achievement gaps have also helped children from the middle class and high-performing students as by those who have been given the worst American public education provides. The reality is that stemming achievement gaps is a smart strategy in systemically overhauling American public education that helps all children get the schools they deserve.
Meanwhile the latest results also demonstrate the success of the most-aggressive school reform states and even those who have pushed for strong reforms in reading curricula and instruction. Take Florida, for example. Twenty-five percent of the Sunshine State’s fourth-graders read Below Basic on the 2013 NAEP, an 15 percent decline from 11 years ago; 34 percent of its free- and reduced lunch students read Below Basic in 2011 versus 51 percent 11 year ago. Same for the District of Columbia, where reform efforts, including the overhaul of the traditional district as well as the expansion of school choice, has also yielded fruit. Fifty percent of D.C.’s fourth graders read Below Basic, a six percentage point decline over 2011 and a 19 percentage point decline from levels in 2002; 60 percent of fourth-graders on free- and reduced-priced lunch plans read Below Basic, a six percentage point decline from 2011 and a 15 percentage point decline from 2002.
Those states who have failed to embrace reform have had done worse in improving the future prospects of its children. Twenty-six of Virginia’s fourth-graders read Below Basic in 2013, a mere three percent decline from 2002; 45 percent of the Old Dominion’s fourth-graders on free- and reduced-priced read Below Basic, a mere two percent decline from levels of illiteracy 11 years ago.
At the same time, the reality remains that the nation’s education crisis still condemns far too many kids are being condemned each day to economic and social oblivion. American can no longer afford economically, much less, morally, to have one out of every two black, Latino, and American Indian children struggling with literacy — especially when minorities make up the majority of enrollment in the southern and western states of the union (and large portions of school populations in the rest of the nation). Nor can the nation have one out of every five white and Asian children be functionally illiterate. The fact that the academic struggles of young men of all backgrounds remains a matter not of consideration for many reformers (much less traditionalists) is especially unacceptable. A nation in which half of its children are uneducated in an age in which knowledge is power is one destined for the ashbin of history.
But ensuring that kids can read at an eighth-grade level and graduate from high school is not enough. In this second stage of reform, the goal is to ensure that all children master algebra, read The Wealth of Nations, and understand Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. It will take stronger reform efforts, especially in overhauling the recruiting, training, and evaluation of teachers, along with revamping curricula and standards, to make this goal a reality. The battle over implementing Common Core reading and math standards — one which is revealing that some reformers aren’t serious about helping all kids succeed (as well as demonstrating the consequences of failed traditionalist thinking) — along with other fights, are necessary in order to provide our children with futures they deserve. At the same time, ending the Obama Administration’s counterproductive effort to eviscerate No Child is also key to stemming the damage it has caused to reform efforts on the ground.
The good news from NAEP is that progress is being made in helping all children succeed. But it isn’t enough. And we must work harder on their behalf.