Report: Area math, reading scores spike

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Students are scoring higher in math and reading and narrowing achievement gaps since passage of the controversial No Child Left Behind Act, says an in-depth report released Tuesday by the Center on Education Policy.

Test scores from Virginia and Maryland followed the nationwide trend, jumping more dramatically in elementary and middle schools than in high schools but still rising overall since 2002, when NCLB went into effect. D.C. chose not to participate in the study.

These results cannot decide the controversy among educators whether NCLB has helped or hurt education, said the center’s president, Jack Jennings. He said that though researchers initially began with that question in mind, the variety of policies and programs put in place by school districts, states and the federal government since 2002 means “you can’t isolate the effects.”

NCLB requires states to test public-schooled children in certain grades and improve test performance to continue receiving federal funds. But because Virginia and Maryland schools began standardizing tests and curriculum before NCLB, it’s less likely the act improved education in those states, Fairfax and Montgomery county public school officials told The Examiner.

“Our scores had been going up consistently even before No Child Left Behind,” Montgomery County school board member Steve Abrams said.

The independent study of state and federal data from 2002 to 2007 measured student achievement from the percentage of students scoring “proficient” and from test averages. It expands on a report the nonprofit center released last year with another year of test scores and more comprehensive research into education trends.

While the debate continues on NCLB’s educational results, the act has afforded researchers a bounty of data from which to analyze whether children are learning more in school, Jennings said.

“There’s no question there has been an increase in testing,” said Jack Dale, Fairfax County public schools superintendent. “More important is the focus on what is most important to be tested and taught. Testing doesn’t cause increases, teaching does.”

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