Texas Hispanic African-American Students Rank 2nd on 8th-Grade NAEP Math Test

Texas ranks 10th overall with Average Score of 290 beating National Average. Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Our Texas 8th graders turned in an outstanding performance. They surpassed levels earned in 2009 when the NAEP was last given and clearly our increased training for math teachers and improved math curriculum standards are paying off" said Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott Tuesday while releasing the results of the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics test. The states white 8th grade students ranked 4th missing out on the 2nd place position themselves by less than one point. The latest NAEP results show Texas Hispanic & African-American students earned the 2nd highest score among their peer groups. Only Hispanic students in Montana earned a higher scale score on the math test than did eighth-grade Hispanic Texans. Only African-American students in Hawaii earned a higher average score than did their counterparts in Texas. White students in the District of Columbia earned an average scale score of 319 the highest score for that ethnic group. Texas students ranked 4th with less than a fraction of a point separating this group from students in Massachusetts and New Jersey. Massachusetts students had the second highest scale score at 304.2876 while Texas received an average score of 303.5460. Overall the state ranked 10th among the states with an average scale score of 290 substantially above the national average score of 283. This summer we learned that the states 2011 graduates earned a record high score on the math section of the ACT. However we know we still have room to grow which is why we are currently revising our math standards to make sure our improvement continues" said Commissioner Scott.

NAEP 2011 Grade 8 Mathematics Scale score range 0-500

Year	Jurisdiction	All Students	White	African American	Hispanic
2011	National	283	293	262	269
	Texas	290	304 (4th)	277 (2nd)	283 (2nd)
2009	National	282	292	260	266
	Texas	287	301	272	277

 Fourth-grade students outpaced most of their ethnic group peers as well and received overall scores that were statistically significantly higher than scores for their national counterparts. African-American Texans earned the fourth highest score among African-Americans across the country with students in New Hampshire Massachusetts and Hawaii earning slightly higher scores. Scores for white Texans ranked 7th behind the District of Columbia Massachusetts Maryland New Jersey Minnesota and Colorado. Hispanic 4th graders in Texas earned the 12th highest score. Students in the following jurisdictions earned higher scores:

1. Alaska
2. Department of Defense schools
3. Florida
4. Hawaii
5. Kentucky
6. Maryland
7. Massachusetts
8. Montana
9. North Carolina
10. Virginia
11. and Wyoming  

NAEP 2011 Grade 4 Mathematics

Year	Jurisdiction	All Students	White	African American	Hispanic
2011	National	240	249	224	229
	Texas	241	253 (7th)	232 (4th)	235 (12th)
2009	National	239	248	222	227
	Texas	240	254	231	233

 NAEP Reading NAEP which is called The Nations Report Card because it is given to a sampling of students in all states and territories showed less progress for Texas students in the area of reading. The states overall scores in both grades were slightly lower than the national scores. However when compared by ethnic groups Texas three major student groups earned higher scores than their peer groups across the country. Nationally scores were largely flat between the 2011 and 2009 results as well.

Our state is seeing little change in the area of reading and English language arts on three tests given to students across the country the NAEP ACT and SAT. We introduced new improved English language arts and reading curriculum standards into Texas classrooms in the 2009-2010 school year and began providing new instructional material in 2010. The new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness also significantly ramps up expectations for this area. I am optimistic that these efforts combined will begin to produce improved results soon" Scott said.

The student group that produced the best results compared to their peers was fourth-grade African-American Texans whose scores were the eighth highest in the country. Scores for white fourth-grade students ranked 12th while scores for Hispanics ranked 15th.

NAEP 2011 Grade 4 Reading

Year	Jurisdiction	All Students	White	African American	Hispanic
2011	National	220	230	205	205
	Texas	218	233 (12th)	210 (8th)	210(15th)
2009	National	220	229	204	204
	Texas	219	232	213	210

 Reading scores for Texas eighth-grade students are higher than those for the states fourth graders and are higher than the national scale score for the three major ethnic groups but the students dont fare as well in the state-by-state comparison. African-American Texans earned the 11th highest average score in the country while scores for white Texas ranked 15th and Hispanics ranked 24th.

NAEP 2011 Grade 8 Reading 

Year	Jurisdiction	All Students	White	African American	Hispanic
2011	National	264	272	248	251
	Texas	261	274 (15th)	252 (11th)	254 (24th)
2009	National	262	271	245	248
	Texas	260	273	249	251