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For more than 40 years, Reading Research Quarterly has been essential reading for those committed to scholarship on literacy among learners of all ages. The leading research journal in the field, each issue of RRQ includes reports of important studies, multidisciplinary research, various modes of investigation, and diverse viewpoints on literacy practices, teaching, and learning. 

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Politicians from both sides of the aisle, along with educators and nonprofit leaders, recently met at an event sponsored by the Data Quality Campaign and College Summit to discuss the importance of using data to support the college- and career-ready agenda. College Summit’s founder J.B. Schramm, who released a paper entitled “Seizing the Measurement Moment” with E. Kinney Zalesne, commented that community-initiated postsecondary feedback system efforts are inefficient and that states need to take the lead.

“Only states have the incentive, the means, the impartiality, and the stamina to get this information in the hands of educators,” he said.

Some states, with significant federal support, have made progress in building these data systems in the past six years, but more needs to be done, he said.

Once the information is gathered on student success after high school, Mr. Schramm said, it needs to be available in a user-friendly format for parents, the business community, and policymakers to make sound decisions about the rigor of curriculum and teaching.

Knowing how students fare in college can help K-12 identify weaknesses in curriculum, such as the need for more math requirements or more rigorous writing instruction. That information can also relieve colleges from having to invest as much in developmental education and, ultimately, fortify the workforce, the College Summit report suggests.

The Nation's Report Card 2011

International Reading Association Research Resources

Researchers at the Educational Policy Improvement Center, or EPIC, recently released The Common Core State Standards Studies which found that common-core standards in English/language arts and mathematics are generally aligned to the leading state standards, international standards, and university standards at the high-school-exit level, but are more rigorous in some content areas. EPIC, an Oregon-based research organization, compared the content and curriculum standards for California and Massachusetts; the Texas College and Career Readiness Standards, a collection of competencies and skills for secondary students that complements the state’s high school standards; the International Baccalaureate standards; and the Knowledge and Skills for University Success, a set of expectations endorsed by 28 research universities and used by the College Board as a reference in its own standards. The authors of the study wanted to see how closely the content covered, the range of material included, and the depth of that material correlated with the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

While the study found alignment in the topics covered and the range of content between the common-core standards and the five others, the report says the common core demanded a bit more cognitive complexity in some topics, particularly English/language arts. The comparison standards lacked the depth of challenge in reading for informational texts, writing, and reading and writing for literacy, and, on the math side, in geometry.

David Conley, the lead researcher on the project and EPIC’s founder and chief executive officer, was also involved in developing the IB standards, Texas’ standards, and the Knowledge and Skills for University Success standards. Mr. Conley said his center selected the IB, Texas, and KSUS standards because its researchers felt confident those were of high quality and focused on college preparation.

Still, he said, the report is not meant to measure the quality of one group of standards over another, but rather to test the conclusion that the common-core standards place a strong emphasis on preparing students for postsecondary education by comparing the standards with others that also focus on college readiness.

“There’s a big danger if you look at these standards as everything you need to know to be ready because it’s not. If you think they’re the perfect measure, they’re not,” Mr. Conley said. “The common-core standards are a step in the right direction, but we still need more information on what makes a student college- and career-ready and still have a way to go toward creating stronger standards and assessments than [evaluating a student] by a cut score on a test.”

Read more about this study at https://www.epiconline.org/CommonCoreStateStandardsStudies.

International Reading Association (IRA) Common Core Resources

PARCC Releases Model Content Frameworks

The National Center for Educational Statistics released the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report this week.

Nationally representative samples of 213,100 fourth-graders and 168,200 eighth-graders participated in the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in reading. At each grade, students responded to questions designed to measure their reading comprehension across two types of texts: literary and informational.

At grade 4, the average reading score in 2011 was unchanged from 2009 but 4 points higher than in 1992. Scores were higher in 2011 than in 2009 for students from both higher-income families (i.e., students not eligible for the National School Lunch Program) and lower-income families (i.e., students eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch). At grade 8, the average reading score in 2011 was 1 point higher than in 2009, and 5 points higher than in 1992.

Scores were higher in 2011 than in 2009 for White, Black, and Hispanic students but did not change significantly for Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian/Alaska Native students. While the White – Hispanic score gap was smaller in 2011 than in 2009, there was no significant change in the White – Black gap over the same period. 

At grade 4, the percentages of students performing at or above Basic, at or above Proficient, or at Advanced did not change significantly from 2009 to 2011 but were higher in 2011 than in 1992. At grade 8, the percentage of students performing at or above the Proficient level in 2011 was higher than in 2009 and 1992. The percentage of students at Advanced in 2011 (3.4) was higher than in 2009 (2.8). The percentage of students at or above Basic did not change significantly from 2009 to 2011 but was higher in 2011 than in 1992.

For more information about the "The Nation's Report Card: Reading 2011," see http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/main2011/2012457.asp. 

While high school scores on state English language arts and math tests have risen since 2002 in most states, new data show smaller proportions of states making gains in high school compared with fourth and eighth grades. The data, published in the Center on Education Policy’s new report, also show a striking lack of progress and widening gaps at the advanced level in many states. 

CEP’s report, State Test Score Trends Through 2008-09, Part 5: Progress Lags in High School, Especially for Advanced Achievers, is based on state test results from 40 states and the District of Columbia. States were included if they had at least three consecutive years of test data through school year 2008-09 for the high school grade assessed for the No Child Left Behind Act, generally grade 10 or 11.

High school students in more than three-fourths of the states analyzed made gains in average test scores and percentages of students scoring proficient, the study found. But compared with grades four and eight, a smaller share of states made gains and a larger share showed declines. In addition, high school gains tended to be smaller than gains in grades four and eight.

“These trends show that progress in raising achievement is lagging in high school, so these students may not be adequately prepared for life after graduation,” said Jennifer McMurrer, CEP research associate and co-author of the study. “The data can’t tell us why, but we can speculate about contributing factors, such as institutions and instruction that aren’t meeting the needs of high school students, low student motivation, and fewer resources for remediation at high school compared with the earlier grades.” 

The study also reveals a lack of progress among high school students at the advanced achievement level. Although the percentage of high school students reaching the advanced level has increased since 2002 in a majority of the states analyzed, one-third or more of these states showed declines at the advanced level for high school students. Declines at this level were more prevalent at high school than at grades four and eight. 

Progress has also lagged at the advanced level for major groups of high school students, including racial/ethnic minority students, low-income students, and boys and girls. In a large majority of the states analyzed, all of these groups made gains in both average test scores and percentages scoring proficient. But fewer states posted gains for subgroups at the advanced performance level. In English language arts, the percentage of students reaching the advanced level declined in one-third to one-half of the states analyzed for all groups except Asian Americans.

“We’re not sure what’s behind these troubling declines at the advanced level,” said Nancy Kober, CEP consultant and co-author of the study. “Clearly, some students aren’t taking challenging courses like algebra and geometry early enough. High achievers may also be getting less attention amid the intense focus on bringing students to proficiency. It’s also possible that they are more motivated to score well on the SAT or AP tests, which have more impact on their future, than on state tests.”