La Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD de los Estados Unidos comenta los resultados de la Evaluación Nacional del Progreso Educacional 2005 (NAEP-2005, en su sigla inglesa) que se acaban de dar a conocer.
Los resultados, sostiene, muestran escaso progreso en esta prueba que que viene a ser como el SIMCE de aquel país.
En efecto, revelan que los alumnos de 4° y 8° grado apenas obtienen un modesto avance en matemáticas mientras que en lenguaje aparecen estancados para el 4° grado y caen en el 8°. Los resultados indican asimismo que se mantienen las brechas entre distintos grupos étnicos y socio-económicos.
En cuarto grado, lenguaje, ni los niños negros, ni los hispánicos ni los más vulnerables de la población alcanzan el nivel básico, mínimo, de rendimiento. La situación mejora algo en el octavo grado.
En matemática estos tres grupos de alumnos superan el nivel básico-mínimo en cuarto año, pero no en el octavo año.
En ninguna de estas dos áreas, ninguno de los tres grupos alcanza, ni en 4° ni en 8° grado, el nivel de desempeño medio.
Ver breve informe aquí como Download file
Ver los datos completos para lenguaje y matemática, y su presentación oficial, en The Nation’s Report Card 2005.
Ver más abajo la opinión de la American Federation of Teachers .

AFT Reviews ‘The Nation’s Report Card’ for 2003-2005
Earlier today the results of the 2003-2005 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics and reading for grades 4 and 8 were released. The 2003-2005 NAEP results show continued improvement in math in grades 4 and 8. Reading scores increased for fourth graders, but decreased slightly for eighth graders.
While the White-Black achievement gaps for fourth- and eighth-grade math narrowed, it was by a lower margin during the 2003-2005 period than in the previous three years. The narrowing of the White-Hispanic achievement gap in reading and math also slowed in the fourth grade.
“We are encouraged by students’ gains. We are troubled, however, by the snail’s pace in narrowing the achievement gap. Congress and the president need to pursue what research tells us works: preschool programs, intense early intervention, social services for students and their families,” said Antonia Cortese, Executive Vice President of the American Federation of Teachers.
The AFT review of 2003-2005 NAEP data also points to a continued lag in student performance in charter schools. Last year, an AFT report unearthed similar data from the first nationally representative sample of charter school NAEP results. AFT’s report on Charter School Achievement on the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress found that most charter schools in the United States were doing worse than regular public schools. Charter school proponents argued the lower scores were attributable to a disproportionate number of low-income students being served by charter schools. However, AFT’s report and data from the 2003 NAEP results refuted this claim.
Today’s AFT review of NAEP results for charter schools is based on a nationally representative sample that is even larger than 2003’s sample. It shows that:
• Charter schools continue to lag behind regular public schools.
• Charter schools do not educate a higher percentage of low-income students than regular public schools.
• Charter school students did not perform as well in math as their counterparts in regular public schools. (Overall, the gap in performance is statistically significant in this category.)
• Low-income students (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) in charter schools did not perform as well in math as comparable students in regular public schools. (In this category, charter school students scored three points lower in the fourth grade and seven points lower in the eighth grade.)
• Eighth grade low-income students in charter schools did not perform as well in reading as comparable students in regular public schools. (In this category, charter school students scored four points lower.)
• According to 2003-2005 NAEP data, there is no difference in academic achievement based on race, except for 2005 data in eighth-grade math. In this category, students in charter schools scored six points lower (statistically significant) than comparable students in regular public schools.
“Once again, the NAEP data confirm what years of independent research point out—students in the average charter school perform no better and, in fact, frequently underperform those in comparable, regular public schools,” said Dr. F. Howard Nelson, who conducted AFT’s review of 2003-2005 NAEP results and served as lead researcher for AFT’s 2004 report. “Many outstanding charter schools exist, but the data point to a need for greater oversight.”
To view data tables for AFT’s review of 2003-2005 NAEP results, go to AFT Reviews “The Nation’s Report Card” for 2003-2005 2005 NAEP. Charter School Comparisons [pdf]
To download AFT’s 2004 report on Charter School Achievement in the 2003 NAEP, go to Charter School Achievement on the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress [pdf]
The AFT represents 1.3 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, paraprofessionals and other school support employees, higher education faculty, nurses and other healthcare workers, and state and local government employees.