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State Senators React to Hispanic Achievement Gains on Latest NAEP Civics Report Card – that showed substantial gains in the performance of Hispanic students at grades four, eight, and 12.
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On May 4, the Civics 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) – also known as the Nation’s Report Card – reported substantial gains in the performance of Hispanic students at grades four, eight, and 12.
Average NAEP civics scores for Hispanic students in 2010 were higher than in 1998 for all three grades, and higher than in 2006 at grade eight. Additionally, the average score for Hispanic eighth graders in 2010 was five points higher than in 2006, and 10 points higher than in 1998.
Florida state Sen. Anitere Flores – a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for NAEP – praised this progress but pointed out there are still achievement gaps between Hispanic and White students. At grade 4, for example, the White – Hispanic gap of 27 points narrowed compared to 1998, but had no significant change compared to 2006.
“Although NAEP shows Hispanic performance in civics has improved, it also shows there continue to be gaps that must be narrowed.” Flores said. ”The fourth-grade results show that there is a significant need to educate our children on the founding principles on which our nation was based. Further, the future of our democracy hinges on our ability to prepare and inform our future voters on the workings of our governmental process.”
Texas state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte – a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for NAEP – noted that the gaps between White and Hispanic students in the higher grades were steadily decreasing over the last three NAEP assessments. Although the gap between the scores of White and Hispanic eighth graders was 23 points in 2010, it was narrower than the gaps in 2006 and 1998. In twelfth grade, the 19-point gap between the scores of White and Hispanic students in 2010 was smaller than the gaps in 2006 and 1998.
“Despite the closing White-Hispanic gaps on civics performance, the fact is we’re still seeing gaps in the double digits and we must work diligently to decrease those further,” Van de Putte said. “This should be a clarion call to invest more resources in building the civics knowledge and skills that are critical to the responsibilities of citizenship in our representative democracy. These results show that we can make a difference not only in civics knowledge but also in the ability to encourage young adults to be active participants in civic life.”
The Nation’s Report Card: Civics 2010, Grades 4, 8, and 12 is available at www.nationsreportcard.gov. Additional information is available at www.nagb.org/civics.
CONTACT: Stephaan Harris
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The National Assessment of Educational Progress is the only nationally representative, continuing evaluation of the condition of education in the United States. It has served as a national yardstick of student achievement since 1969. Through the Nation’s Report Card, NAEP informs the public about what American students know and can do in various subject areas and compares achievement between states, large urban districts, and various student demographic groups.
The National Assessment Governing Board is an independent, bipartisan board whose members include governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives and members of the general public. Congress created the 26-member Governing Board in 1988 to oversee and set policy for NAEP.
Posted on: May 5th, 2011Curation from Tomás
Filed Under: needs curation
