There’s a wide discrepancy in the percentage of students whom Missouri considers academically proficient and the number of Missouri students considered proficient nationally, according to results of a nationwide test released Tuesday.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, is known as the nation’s report card. It’s considered to be the only test that can be used to compare student performance across all states, because states use different tests to measure student achievement.
Both Missouri and Illinois students scored at or near national averages on the 2017 NAEP. Nationwide, about 40 percent of fourth-graders and 33 percent of eighth-graders scored proficient or better in math, while about 35 percent of fourth-graders and 35 percent of eighth-graders scored proficient or better in English.
But significantly smaller percentages of Missouri students were considered proficient on the national test than on the state’s standardized test, the Missouri Assessment Program. Those results show that Missouri considers thousands of students to be proficient in English and math who would not score proficient on the national test, even though Missouri students performed similarly to the national average.
“We set the bar at different levels. Missouri’s could be considered to be set a little lower,” said Jeremy Ellis, NAEP coordinator for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The gap was as wide as 27 percentage points for Missouri fourth-graders testing in English. Illinois student performance on its state tests was more nearly identical to their performance on the national test, with the widest gap being about 10 percentage points. Illinois administers the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, test, which is considered to be similar in rigor to NAEP.
MAP and NAEP are different tests with different purposes, Ellis said. For example, NAEP tests students on reading, specifically, while MAP includes writing and reading. Unlike NAEP, which tests representative samples of students, MAP is meant to test every Missouri student.
• Explore MAP scores for schools in the area
Ellis said Missouri’s student expectations were set more recently than those for NAEP and more accurately reflect the current “reality” of Missouri classrooms. The state Board of Education adopted the state’s current learning standards in 2016.
Ellis said Missouri uses MAP results to measure in-state district and student performance, rather than compare itself to other states.
“It’s used in different ways, so it’s not surprising that the percentages would be different,” Ellis said.
NAEP results also show that achievement gaps persist for students who are black or Hispanic, come from lower-income families, have disabilities or are English language learners, nationwide and in Missouri and Illinois.
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