Washington state’s fourth graders made gains this year in their math and reading scores on the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), according to results released Thursday by the National Center for Education Statistics. The state’s eighth graders made gains in reading and maintained their scores in math.

In eighth-grade math, only five states scored statistically higher than Washington. In fourth-grade reading, it was four; fourth-grade math, three.

And only two states scored statistically higher than Washington in eighth-grade reading.

“I’m impressed with the movement in scores this year,” State Superintendent Randy Dorn said. “I’m proud of the students who participated in the testing sample. Their scores reflect their hard work and the work of educators across the state. But opportunity gaps remain, especially for English language learners. We need to continue finding better ways to help students who need more support.”

NAEP is a program of the U.S. Department of Education. Commonly called The Nation’s Report Card, it is the only test in the United States that allows comparisons of the performance of students in Washington with performance of students nationally. Assessments are conducted periodically in mathematics, reading, science, writing, the arts, civics, economics, geography and U.S. history. It’s a yardstick that state educators, legislators and governors can use to gauge the effectiveness of state educational policies.

Statistical Sampling
Not all students participate in NAEP. For NAEP to report accurate results, the relatively small sample of students taking the assessments must be truly representative of the entire student population of Washington.