Students Are Returning to School. After More Than a Decade of Reform, How Have Schools Changed? (Post 1 of 2)

By Mac LeBuhn, Policy Analyst

American students returning to public schools this year are part of a distinguished class. For the first time, the Department of Education projects total enrollment in America’s public schools will exceed 50 million students. Since 2005, the United States has added over a million students to its rolls. Over the same time period, our public schools also have recorded some impressive gains in student achievement.

These gains follow a decade of unprecedented education reforms. Over the past ten years, advocates and policymakers have directed attention and resources towards improving educational opportunities, especially for low-income and minority students. Some changes have been at the national level, most notably through No Child Left Behind (2002) and Race to the Top (2009). Many other changes came from scores of state-level reforms. (An upcoming post will consider the progress of states more closely.)

To examine the changes in student performance, we compiled the scores for the fourth and eighth grade math and reading tests administered under the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the federal benchmark exams commonly used to monitor student progress. These four scores comprise a composite score that can depict broad changes in student performance across grades and subject areas. What do these composite scores reveal?

The data tell a generally optimistic story. Nationally, the gap between the performance of black and white students declined by nearly ten percent since 2005, as did the gap between the performance of Hispanic and white students. Achievement gaps between low-income students and their more economically advantaged peers declined by 11 percent over the same period. These gaps have narrowed while overall performance levels have increased for white students and students from higher income families.

Most statistical analyses of student progress on NAEP focus on overall scores of the percentage of students who have met or exceeded the score considered “proficient.” One criticism of recent reforms is that they have primarily focused on “bubble students,” those who are just below the level of proficient, since this is the index most frequently used for the purposes of reporting and accountability. However, our analysis reveals that student progress has not come solely from moving students up who are just below “proficient.” As proficiency numbers increased, significantly fewer students now fall below basic.

The tale is largely positive for high school graduation as well. Dropout rates in the United States are on a consistent decline, though they remain far too high. In 2005, 22 of every 100 Hispanic students dropped out of high school. In 2011, 15 of every 100 dropped out. Similarly, in 2005, ten of every 100 black students dropped out of high school. By 2011, that number decreased to eight of every 100.*

Increasing numbers of students are attaining proficiency, achievement gaps are narrowing and graduation rates are increasing. However, this gradual national progress masks a more complicated story. While outcomes are improving overall, some states and cities have done far better than others at closing achievement gaps and improving student performance. Despite these improvements, significant gaps remain.

*U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October 1967 through October 2010. Percentage of high school dropouts among persons 16 through 24 years old (status dropout rate), by sex and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1960 through 2010.

Mac LeBuhn is a policy analyst at Democrats for Education Reform (DFER). Before joining DFER, Mac was a fourth grade teacher at Rocketship Si Se Puede, a charter school in San Jose, CA. He became involved in education policy through internships at the offices of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Colorado State Senator Mike Johnston.