Nation's report card: Student progress mixed

WASHINGTON — The nation's 9- and 13-year-olds are doing better in math and reading than in the early 1970s, but average scores for students approaching high-school graduation haven't budged, according to test results released Tuesday.

Performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which offers a long view of the achievement of American schoolchildren, shows several bright spots.

Nine-year-olds in 2008 posted the highest average scores ever: 220 in reading and 243 in math on a 500-point scale. For comparison, scores were 208 in reading in 1971 and 219 in math in 1973.

Black and Hispanic students made strong gains in the latest testing. But the high-school results were less encouraging. Seventeen-year-olds did no better in reading or math since the early 1970s.

The assessment, known as the "nation's report card," tests a sampling of 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds. It is widely seen as one of the best measures of academic progress.

In addition to looking at long-term trends, the report examined how students have progressed since 2004, the most recent administration of the exams.

It also compared 2008 test results with a reading test first given in 1971, and results from a math exam first taken in 1973.

In reading, the average scores of all three groups have risen since 2004. Nine- and 13-year-olds have made gains since 1971, but the average reading score for 17-year-olds was unchanged.

Average math scores for 9- and 13-year-olds increased since 1973 and since 2004. Seventeen-year-olds, on average, showed no change since 1973 or 2004.

The test results come as the Obama administration is pushing for major reform in schools — and backing that effort with $100 billion to go into early-childhood education, public schools and colleges.