Kentucky has again posted above-average reading results in the latest release from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation’s Report Card.
This year, education officials are celebrating the inclusion of more special needs students than ever before.
The NAEP test gives a snapshot of 4th and 8th grade student performance in math and reading every two years. Kentucky has previously been criticized for excluding more students with special needs than schools the national average.
“The exclusion rates do have an impact on test scores, the more kids you exclude the higher your scores are going to be because most of the kids who are in that region of either being excluded or not being excluded are lower scoring students," said University of Virginia research professor David Grissmer, a member of the NAEP Validity Panel.
Kentucky’s NAEP reading scores have been higher than the national average for years. The state’s 4th grade math scores are on par with the national average. Eighth grade scores are lower.
Indiana students made the second largest gains overall among states.
