New report: U.S. students improve in math, but need work on reading

Mixed report card from Department of Education

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Many students perform better today in mathematics, but they've shown little improvement in reading, data released Thursday from the U.S. Department of Education show.

The National Assessment of Education Progress, which has been tracking academic performance for 30 years, focused on students ages 9, 13, and 17 -- the fourth, eighth and 12th grades. The latest data cover 1999, when roughly 48,000 students were tested.

Noting the improvements in mathematics, Education Secretary Richard Riley heralded the latest study.

RESOURCES NAEP -- Results from the 1999 Long-Term Trend Study in Reading, Mathematics and Science Read the report     MESSAGE BOARD Curriculum concerns

"The results may surprise a few cynics," Riley said. "Today's students are doing better."

In 1999, student achievement in mathematics was higher than ever before among all age groups, a trend the report's authors attributed to more students taking advanced math courses.

"It is clear that students excel when they are challenged," said Riley.

Reading scores in 1999, however, were not as positive. The report showed no improvement for 17-year-olds, some improvement for 13-year-olds and only long-term improvement for 9-year-olds.

Riley urged parents to help children by reading to them 30 minutes a day.

"The trends report finds that reading in the home is down, and that there is a correlation between reading in the home and achievement tests," said Riley, as he called on Congress to increase funding for federal reading programs.

There was little improvement in science as well, with the only modest academic gain seen among 9-year-olds.

On the politically charged topic of public versus private school performance, data showed that "non-public school students tend to outperform public school students."

One of the major debates this election year is whether the parents of students attending public schools should be given vouchers for private schools.

Riley argued this comparative data on student achievement has no correlation to the quality of public schools.

In examining performance based on race, "overall scores for white students were higher than those of black and Hispanic students for all three ages in all three subjects. However, each subgroup made significant gains in all three subject areas."

Black students' scores remained below those of white students in mathematics, but showed greater gains -- narrowing the gap in each age group over the last three decades.

The gap between black and white students has also narrowed since 1971 in reading skills.

However, black 17-year-olds on average are still two years behind whites that age in their reading skills, according to the report.

Hispanic students, however, have not significantly narrowed the academic gap with white students except in mathematics and in reading among 17-year-olds.

When performance was broken down by gender, female students of all ages had higher reading scores than males, and the math score gap that once favored males disappeared.

Male students, however, still outperform female students in science at ages 13 and 17.

Riley said the results underscore what educators have learned about helping students over the past 30 years. He urged Congress to support a "federal education budget that includes investments in smaller classes, up-to-date schools, effective preschool programs, strong after-school programs and well-trained teachers."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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U.S. Department of Education
National Assessment Governing Board
National Assessment of Educational Progress

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