New York City NAEP scores are flat

New York City scored slightly lower on three out of the four National Assessment of Education Progress tests this year, declining in 4th and 8th grade math and on 4th grade reading. One bright spot was 8th grade reading, where students gained two points after years of flat results. The city has generally performed better than the national average for large cities. This year, though, it lost ground against the large cities in both grades and subjects, while other cities showed much more robust results.

Michael Mulgrew issued the following statement in response:

This year’s NAEP scores, combined with the city’s generally undistinguished results in prior years, is a lesson on how kids get shortchanged by school reform driven by a political agenda rather than research and evidence. We’re not going to see real and consistent improvement until the system turns its back on test prep and begins to focus on strong curriculum and real instruction.