This year’s National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) results released last Friday illustrate two fundamental and chronic problems in Wisconsin’s education system: stagnation and inequity. While many other states’ results showed progress for fourth- and eighth-graders in reading and math, our overall scores showed little improvement and, even more disturbingly, our achievement gaps for African American and Hispanic students are higher than those of any state in the nation.
Wisconsin students have not posted significant gains in math or reading since 2005. Statewide, this year’s results show 47% of fourth-graders and 40% of eighth-graders scored proficient or advanced in math, and 35% of fourth-graders and 36% of eighth-graders scored proficient or advanced in reading. And the numbers only get worse when we look at the results for minority students.
In a previous post, I noted that based on the 2011 NAEP scores, Wisconsin had the most severe achievement gap between black and white students of any state in the nation. In 2013, Wisconsin still holds that disgraceful distinction. Eighth-grade reading scores for black students were the worst in any state, by any ethnic group, and fourth-grade reading scores for black students were the second worst. The chart below reveals the extent of these gaps.
In a recent statement, State Superintendent Tony Evers agreed that Wisconsin’s NAEP results signaled there is work to do. “We can be pleased that Wisconsin’s mathematics achievement is above the national average,” said Evers. “However, our pace of improvement in mathematics has slowed, and the state’s reading results have remained flat. Achievement gaps between racial and ethnic groups, students with disabilities, and English language learners persist. We must remain focused on our efforts to improve achievement for all students so they graduate ready for college and careers. This means continuing to implement our new, more rigorous academic standards and our work in reading instruction.”
The “rigorous academic standards” that Evers refers to are what many of us know as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which have been adopted by the majority of states across the country, including Wisconsin, as a way to ensure all students are college- and career-ready.
Going beyond the adoption of these standards to actually implementing these standards is the first logical step on Wisconsin’s path to improve its students’ scores overall and to close the state’s vast achievement gaps. Yet, as I highlighted earlier this month. there continues to be pushback from CCSS opponents across the state who seem to be in total denial of how desperately we need to jumpstart Wisconsin’s education system.
The results from this year’s NAEP test should not only be a warning, but a flashing red siren drawing attention to a school system that is dire need of reform. It’s obvious from these results that we are in trouble, and that CCSS, by raising academic standards, will be an important tool to help pull us out of the stagnant student achievement waters in which we’ve been thrashing about for close to a decade.
We need to put aside our differences to help our state rise out of the muck and create change. Let’s stop the politicking and move forward with college- and career-ready standards for all.
Jarett Fields is an education specialist with a passion for community engagement. For the past ten years, Jarett has worked to increase the number of college graduates by building sustainable programs at the higher education level. Professionally, he has worked to build pathways of success for students at UCLA, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.