Factchecking the State of the Union

The "record" of scores dates back to 1990, when the NAEP mathematics scores first came into effect; reading scores were recorded starting in 1992. Scores are taken for both fourth- and eighth-grade students.

Since NCLB's enactment, in mathematics, both fourth and eighth grades have achieved the highest scores since 1990. Reading scores are now on the rise for fourth-grade students, and last year they recorded their highest scores to date. However, scores for eighth-grade students are only slightly up from the first recorded year and are not the highest on record. The highest scores for eighth graders in reading were scored in 2002, and they have gone down a bit since then.

African-American students' eighth-grade reading scores rose slightly last year over the previous year, having achieved their highest scores in 2002, and they also have gone down somewhat since then. Meanwhile, African-American fourth graders achieved the highest recorded scores in reading last year. The same went for fourth- and eighth-grade African-American students in mathematics. Hispanic students' scores have achieved a record high in fourth and eighth grade reading and math.

Also worth noting is that scores were already on the increase prior to the enactment of the law, with exceptions in overall fourth-grade reading scores, and scores for African Americans and Hispanics in that subject and grade. Prior to NCLB, overall eighth-grade reading and math scores, along with fourth-grade math scores, fluctuated but increased between the first year recorded and the last year before the law's enactment. That trend was the same for African American and Hispanic fourth- and eighth-grade math scores, as well as African American and Hispanic eighth-grade reading scores. African American and Hispanic fourth-grade reading scores, however, were on the decline prior to the enactment of NCLB, as were overall fourth-grade reading scores.

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Reprinted with permission from Factcheck.org.

Viveca Novak, Justin Bank, Jess Henig, Emi Kolawole, Joe Miller, Lori Robertson and D'Angelo Gore

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