Mississippi, Florida, Texas and Louisiana do better on math and reading in 4th and 8th grade tests than MD and VA

[Anonymous]

When comparing students that are similar to each other (FARMS, race and ethnicity, ELL and special education status) Mississippi, Florida, Texas and Louisiana all do better than Maryland and Virginia on the NAEP test.

When will our school districts wake up and realize they are failing our kids and can't keep blaming bad parenting and poverty for their failures?

https://www.urban.org/research/publication/states-demographically-adjusted-performance-2024-national-assessment

[Anonymous]

Shocking red doing better than blue on education.

Equity will always lower the bar.

Equal opportunity and discipline offer the ability to raise the bar.

[Anonymous]

Virginia passed a "Science of Reading" law a year or two ago that was modeled on the Mississippi Miracle.

At least FCPS and APS already have switched to literacy curricula that are approved under that law. All public schools in the Commonwealth are required to make that curriculum change. APS moved to CKLA, which is the one I happen to prefer. FCPS moved to Benchmark.

I am not clear on what is happening in DC or MD overall. Posters here have reported that MCPS recently dumped the Benchmark curriculum and moved to the same CKLA that APS uses.

It likely will take about 4 years from start of any literacy curriculum change for NAEP 4th grade test scores to reflect the new curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Virginia passed a "Science of Reading" law a year or two ago that was modeled on the Mississippi Miracle.

At least FCPS and APS already have switched to literacy curricula that are approved under that law. All public schools in the Commonwealth are required to make that curriculum change. APS moved to CKLA, which is the one I happen to prefer. FCPS moved to Benchmark.

I am not clear on what is happening in DC or MD overall. Posters here have reported that MCPS recently dumped the Benchmark curriculum and moved to the same CKLA that APS uses.

It likely will take about 4 years from start of any literacy curriculum change for NAEP 4th grade test scores to reflect the new curriculum.

Thanks for the update. It’s great to hear and this should be a bipartisan issue all can rally around.

[Anonymous]

I wonder how much of this could have to do with quickly getting kids back into school in person during Covid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much of this could have to do with quickly getting kids back into school in person during Covid?

Unrelated to that.

It was the use of literacy curricula that do not work to teach reading. See the "Sold a story" podcast.

[Anonymous]

If every state did that they would be back on the bottom next to New Mexico.

[Anonymous]

I thought they held the kids back who can’t read in some of those states. Those kids who can’t read aren’t part of the data because they are held back. Kinda simple to understand that would make the data look better since it is only the kids who are reading who are counted!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shocking red doing better than blue on education.

Equity will always lower the bar.

Equal opportunity and discipline offer the ability to raise the bar.

Um, equity is the same thing as equal opportunity…. But not if you are used to extra opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought they held the kids back who can’t read in some of those states. Those kids who can’t read aren’t part of the data because they are held back. Kinda simple to understand that would make the data look better since it is only the kids who are reading who are counted!

Yup. It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.

[Anonymous]

This report is just a fancy way of saying that cost of living / purchasing power parity is lower in some states than others?

You can stir "adjustments" anyway you want to paint different results.

Where are the direct in-demographic state-to-state comparisons?

[Anonymous]

The covid drop is a drop in the bucket considering the abysmal score level in the good old days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much of this could have to do with quickly getting kids back into school in person during Covid?

Unrelated to that.

It was the use of literacy curricula that do not work to teach reading. See the "Sold a story" podcast.

Nah, in many southern areas kids were only out of school for 6 weeks during covid.

[Anonymous]

I've had two Marylanders with high school degrees who worked for me that were illiterate. It was embarrassing.

[Anonymous]

Going back to phonics was a good move.

Lower COL overall means they are attractive places for good teachers and they can afford more aids.

But holding back for the "third-grade gate" does boost 4th-grade NAEP scores.