Math, reading scores change little for S.C.

South Carolina students' scores on national tests in reading and math were nearly identical to those of students who took the test two years ago, according to National Assessment of Educational Progress results released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education.

In contrast, students across the nation performed better than those who took the exams in 2005.

Results for South Carolina's fourth- and eighth-grade students were either the same or one point higher or lower than students who took the test in 2005.

State Education Superintendent Jim Rex said the plateauing that seems to be happening statewide and nationally might be reflective of the fact that the easier academic gains already have been made. Initiatives such as setting high standards and expectations and focusing on curriculum have yielded some benefits, but that may have been some "lower-hanging fruits," he said.

To hit higher levels of improvement, the state will have to make more efforts toward innovation and systemic change, Rex said. That includes ensuring that the best teachers are working with the most challenged students and providing teachers with more training, he said.

"There are a lot of other things we're going to have to address to see the other gains that we want to see," Rex said. "Some are in education, and some are peripheral."

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the nation's report card, is the only test that allows states to compare students' results in core academic subjects with other states and the entire nation. The federal No Child Left Behind law requires states that receive money for low-income students to give the test.

A nationally representative sample of about 700,000 fourth- and eighth-grade students took reading and math tests. Students across the state took the test, but scores are not available for individual schools or districts.

The exam's results reinforce that the state's definition for proficiency correlates closely to the national definition, Rex said. Many other states run the risk of misleading their citizens by setting their requirements for proficiency lower than that of NAEP, he said.

South Carolina ranked in the bottom half of states for its students' scores, although officials caution that differences among state rankings can be separated by fractions of a point.

Palmetto State students did the best on the math exam, with eighth-grade students performing better than students in 16 states and about the same as those in 12 others. This was the only area where students' scores exceeded the national average. Fourth-grade students did better than students in nine states and about the same as those in 13 others.

In reading, South Carolina fourth-graders scored better than students in four states and about the same as students in 10 others. Eighth-grade students scored higher than students in seven states and about the same as students in 11 others.

Janet Rose, executive director of assessment and accountability for Charleston County schools, said math is a hard subject to teach, but it's easier when compared to teaching reading. A student's ability to read well depends on more factors, such as the vocabulary that's learned outside of school, and reading skills take years to develop and are slow to show improvement, she said.

"You're not going to see these large gains in reading," she said. "You have a better chance of seeing it in math because of the nature of the course of study and what reading is."

Rose said she wouldn't expect state scores to show huge jumps in one year because it takes time for students to learn what's being tested.