HARTFORD — Grade 4 and 8 students in the state maintained a position near the top of nationwide rankings for reading performance according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
NAEP released results from the 2015 assessments Wednesday. Connecticut students remained at the top nationwide for reading in both grades 4 and 8. In math, state students performed near the middle of the other states in grade 4 and slightly above the national average in grade 8.
Ten years ago, 34 percent of Connecticut’s grade 8 students performed at or above proficient in reading. In 2015, 43 percent of students performed at or above proficient – a nine percentage point gain. This year, Connecticut’s fourth graders were second only to students in Massachusetts, and at the top of the list with students above proficient in grade 8 reading.
The student’s assessment in math was in the middle of the pack nationwide. Eighth graders in the state outperformed students in 21 states.
In a press release, the State Department of Education, said, “The NAEP results reflect similar challenges revealed in this year’s Smarter Balanced assessment, which is aligned to the more rigorous college and career-ready standards of Common Core,” the State Department of Education said in a press release.