WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2026
There's no single way to tell: How well are America's children doing? Our 9-year-old students, let's say.
There's no easy way to answer such a worthwhile question. That said, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tested a national sample of such kids last year.
How strong are the skills of These Kids Today? Results may see to differ depending on where you start your comparisons, if you choose to approach things that way.
For today, we'll go back a good long ways. The Long Term Trend version of the NAEP goes back a bit farther than we will, but this is how last year's numbers look as compared to the numbers from 1980 (reading) and 1982 (math):
Average scores, 9-year-old students
Reading, Long Term Trend NAEP
1980 / 2025
All students: 215.04 / 218.39
Black kids: 189.35 / 204.62
Hispanic kids: 190.22 / 207.59
White kids: 221.34 / 224.79
Asian kids: 224.56 / 242.48
Average scores, 9-year-old students
Math, Long Term Trend NAEP
1982 / 2025
All students: 218.98 / 237.67
Black kids: 194.94 / 220.19
Hispanic kids: 204.00 / 226.24
White kids: 223.95 / 245.82
Asian kids: 241.60 / 260.11
Now for the rest of the story:
Average scores have risen since those early years, especially in math. For the record, we aren't cherry-picking those starting points. Math and reading were tested in separate years back in those earlier days.
That said, how large are the academic gains suggested by those numbers? On the Main NAEP, it's often said, as a very rough rule of thumb, that 10-11 points on the NAEP scale is roughly equivalent to one academic year.
You can start applying that (very rough) rule of thumb to the data shown above. At your favorite major news sites, you'll see no one try to inform you in more detail about the meaning of those statistical gains. In fact, no one cares about any of this, and no one ever has or ever will.
Based upon last year's numbers, 9-year-old students have come a long way since the 1980 / 1982 testing. The Main NAEP shows similar progress when we go back that many years.
To review the difference between the two different versions of the NAEP, you can just click here.
For access to all data from the Long Term Trend NAEP, you can start by clicking this. From there, you're on your own
Asian kids are out scoring us? Abolish birthright citizenship.
ReplyDeleteNeptune was discovered in perturbation of Uranus.
DeleteExpecting constant growth in test scores is silly.
ReplyDeleteAs a society we are not advancing in any notable way, in fact we seem to be repeating earlier cycles of growing inequality engendering growing authoritarianism, and we seem to be reacting to those circumstances in a similar way to how previous generations responded.
Humans are humans.
It is good to monitor the metric of test scores, but they do not reveal much.
Test scores do not seem to have any significant correlation with the health and happiness of a society, certainly much less so than characteristics like wealth inequality and parenting skills.
Gee, I wonder what has happened in our society in those intervening years? Cell phones and screen usage, covid, phonics, shorter school years, a drug crisis came and went. Does Somerby have an actual point?
ReplyDeletePhonics today, phonics tomorrow, phonics forever!
DeleteUS conducting new strikes in Iran after Trump said ceasefire is ‘over’
ReplyDeleteSeveral explosions have been heard nearby
*****
The fucking art of the fucking deal
Fucking is good. You should try it.
DeleteFuck off maggot. Go lick Trump’s ass somewhere else. It’s fucking disgusting.
DeletePlatner has suspended his campaign.
ReplyDeleteRepublicans on the other hand enthusiastically support rapists and sexual abusers. #thepartiesarethesame
DeleteIs Iran in the Rear View Mirror Yet?
ReplyDelete“I don’t want to deal with them anymore,” Trump told reporters, sitting next to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “They’re scum. They’re sick people,” Trump added.
“Cut off all trade with Spain” king chickenshit ordered to no one in particular
DeleteCalling the IRGC "sick" is key. If they are mentally ill (by our standards), then we cannot predict how they would react to nuclear deterrence. If they're faced with Mutual Assured Destruction, will they blink? This uncertainty explains why Presidents like Obama and Trump made such great efforts to prevent them from having nuclear weapons.
DeleteEven if the Iran gets nukes and don't use them, they would be in position to blackmail countries throughout the middle east. Presumably, they would also eventually obtain even longer range missiles. IMO Trump and Obama were prudent when they took actions to keep nuclear weapons away from Iran.
There’s something seriously the fuck wrong with you, dickhead fascist freak
DeleteYou're such a fucking asshole troll. Trump destroyed Obama's international treaty and you know it. And it is causing all this chaos you fucking idiot. And surprise, surprise, the demented ashole is back to bombing raids. Oh my, did Trump and his cronies get their bets in ahead of the spike in oil futures? I'm so old I remember you gloating how the great Trump and amazing Hegseth had this figured out in the first three days. The idiot Felon didn't have a problem surrendering to the Taliban, why so long to surrender to the Ayatollah? Or is this just the latest segment of endless Republican wars in the Middle East? You fucking lying jaggoff weirdo fucking troll.
DeleteThere are some parallels here between the re-election of Trump and Bush Jr. All needed to complete the analogy (tax cuts to the rich, unnecessary foreign wars, kow towing to the Israelis, and poorly handled tragedies) is a major recession. The AI bubble will provide that, and the next administration, which will be Democratic , will have to clean that up. Hopefully the US taxpayers will not be left holding the bag for the billionaires who have created this bubble. I am not optimistic.
DeleteIt's an all too common right wing ploy to suggest that the leaders of an opposing government would, because they are crazy, deploy nuclear weapons, ignoring their mutually assured destruction. It allows justification for wars and invasions. There is no empirical data suggesting this propaganda to be true (see North Korea).
DeleteWhy would scores for white and asian students be going up? Is the test getting easier, or are those students just doing better? What are the top scores possible to achieve? Is there a 95 percentile rank?
ReplyDelete