Native American Students' Test Scores Unimproved
Joan Oleck -- School Library Journal, 5/19/2008 2:05:00 PM
According to a new study, Native American students are still lagging behind many of their peers in reading and math. American Indian and Alaska native (AI/AN) fourth and eighth graders’ reading and math scores in 2007 showed no significant change over their 2005 scores. And these scores were lower than those of non-AI/AN students in both years.
Those are the major findings of the first phase of the 2007 National Indian Education Study, conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics for the Department of Education. The study—using National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores as the basis of measurement—was also conducted in 2005.
The study looked at approximately 10,100 American Indian and Alaska native students in grades four and eight in reading, and 10,300 in math. The students were from 11 states with relatively large AI/AN populations, including Arizona, New Mexico, and South Dakota.
While the overall reading scores for AI/AN students were lower than those of non AI/AN students, the Native American students held their own when compared to other minorities. Specifically, their reading scores were not significantly different than those of black and Hispanic students. Scores for higher-performing AI/AN students—in the 75th and 90th percentiles—also were higher than those of black students. And AI/AN fourth graders attending city schools also scored higher than their black and Hispanic peers. On the other hand, Native American eighth graders attending rural schools scored lower than their Hispanic counterparts.
