Washington state leads the nation in reading and math scores for African American fourth-graders, and does almost as well for black eighth-graders, based on a test often called the nation's report card.

Results from the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which the U.S. Department of Education was releasing this morning, also show that the percentage of Washington fourth-graders who are proficient in math is higher than in 1996 but is the same in reading as in 1994. Black and Latino students have made dramatic gains in achievement over those periods on the NAEP reading and math tests.

All states have participated in the NAEP since 2003, as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act. The test is given every two years to a representative sample of students in fourth and eighth grades.

The congressionally mandated report is based on a nationally representative sample of fourth- and eighth-graders who took the test. About one-third of Washington's fourth-graders achieved the basic reading level, 30 percent below that level and 35 percent above it (considered "proficient" or better); in math, about 42 percent performed at the basic level, 16 percent below it and 42 percent above it.

Washington fourth- and eighth-graders overall performed above the national average on both the 2005 math and reading tests. Nationally, for instance, 38 percent of fourth-graders performed below the basic level in reading.

The report's authors caution against comparing the states' data because they can be influenced by differences in demographics and state policies on excluding students with disabilities or those who aren't fluent in English. Washington excluded fewer students from the test than many other states.

The average math and reading scores for Washington fourth-graders rose or held steady in every major ethnic group from 2003, the last time the NAEP was administered.

While private schools can take part in the NAEP, too few participated for their results to be made public, according to the report. However, the department did report that, nationally, 46 and 44 percent of fourth-graders in Catholic and Lutheran schools were proficient in reading, compared to 23 percent in public schools. The disparity was similar for math.