Argument: NCLB has succeeded in improving test scores

Support

• (NAEP) The Department of Education points to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results, released in July 2005, showing improved student achievement in reading and math:[1]
• More progress was made by nine-year-olds in reading in the last five years than in the previous 28 years combined.
• America’s nine-year-olds posted the best scores in reading (since 1971) and math (since 1973) in the history of the report. America’s 13-year-olds earned the highest math scores the test ever recorded.
• Reading and math scores for African American and Hispanic nine-year-olds reached an all-time high.
• Math scores for African American and Hispanic 13-year-olds reached an all-time high.
• Achievement gaps in reading and math between white and African American nine-year-olds and between white and Hispanic nine-year-olds are at an all-time low.
• Forty-three states and the District of Columbia either improved academically or held steady in all categories (fourth- and eighth-grade reading and fourth- and eighth-grade math).