Ohio School Scores in Math and Reading Improve

Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Topics: Education, Other
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Ohio students have been doing a better job in reading and math since No Child Left Behind was created -- but the new study that quantifies those improvements can't determine whether the federal law that mandated proficiency standards should get the credit for improvement. ideastream®'s Kymberli Hagelberg has details.

If you love—or hate—No Child Left Behind, the new study by the Center on Education Policy probably won’t help you win any debates.  CEP president Jack Jennings says even though students across the country are doing better in reading and math, he cautions that credit isn’t automatically due the program—even in Ohio where third-grade math scores are up 7 points.

JENNINGS: The picture in Ohio is a positive picture. But when it comes to the reasons, we don’t know the percentage to which kids know more compared to the percentage to which the scores are affected through the narrowing of the curriculum.

Jennings says narrowing the curriculum and more time preparing for the test are possible reasons students have done better since 2002. Ironically, those are the same reasons opponents dislike NCLB.

He says their complaints should be investigated too, but for Jennings the study shows conclusively that public education can be improved.

JENNINGS: We can do certain things in this country if we decide to do them.

Kymberli Hagelberg, 90.3.

Additional Information

Report: Has Student Achievement Improved Since 2002? State Test Score Trends Through 2006–07