New NAEP results for Kentucky also disappoint – Grade 8 Math

The results from the 2019 administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests in Grades 4 and 8 reading and mathematics are out, and I am just starting to dig into the voluminous data that is now posted in the online NAEP Data Explorer web tool (which is the data source for the graph shown below).In this final blog looking at overall scores for Kentucky, I look at both the NAEP and Kentucky’s own KPREP test results for the overall average performance for all public school students from the 2012-13 school term to the new results for 2018-19 in Grade 8 math. Note that KPREP is given annually, but the NAEP is only given every other year.

As you can see, in the case of Grade 8 math proficiency, the NAEP and the KPREP are telling us somewhat different stories. According to KPREP, the state’s math proficiency for eighth graders has basically stayed flat at a 45% level. NAEP also shows the state’s eighth grade math performance is essentially flat (a 1-point change isn’t statistically significant), but at a MUCH lower level of only 29% proficiency.

Regardless of the test, the trend story is the same. No progress in math for middle schoolers in Kentucky.

But, the KPREP is apparently giving us an inflated image of our eight grade students performance in math, and because these scores figure into each school’s star rating, it looks like those new ratings could also be inflated a bit.

Any way you look at this, it isn’t happy news.