Following in the footsteps of a previous study, CAP researchers have examined the effects of a state’s commitment to standards-based reform (as measured by clear standards, tests aligned to those standards, and whether a state sanctions low-performing schools) on low-income students’ test scores (reading and math achievement on the NAEP from 2003 to 2013). The results indicate that jurisdictions ranked highest in commitment to standards-based reform (e.g., Massachusetts, Florida, Tennessee, the District of Columbia) show stronger gains on NAEP scores for their low-income students. The same relationship seems to be present in states ranked lowest in commitment to standards-based reform: low-income students in Iowa, Kansas, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota did worse.
As you can imagine, a lot of caveats go with the measure of commitment to standards-based reform. Checking the box for “implemented high standards” alone is likely to pose more questions than it answers. Beyond that, implementation, teaching, and assessment of standards are all difficult, if not impossible, to quantify. The authors acknowledge that some of their evidence is “anecdotal and impressionistic,” but they are talking about the “commitment to standards” piece. They are four-square behind NAEP scores as a touchstone of academic success or lack thereof, despite persistent questions among fellow researchers on that subject. To the extent that higher standards and all that go with them can be connected to improvements in NAEP performance—especially for low-income students, and especially over some years of past implementation—we need to pay attention. The authors take a more detailed look at Iowa—the lowest-ranking state on commitment to standards—whose NAEP gains for low-income students were similarly unremarkable. It’s not proof, but at least we have some suggestive indicators to determine whether NAEP improvements will continue into the Common Core era.
SOURCE: Ulrich Boser and Catherine Brown, “Lessons From State Performance on NAEP: Why Some High-Poverty Students Score Better Than Others,” Center for American Progress (January 2016).
