The Notebook  Paid Advertisement view counter  Philadelphia's
NAEP scores are below average for big-city districts  by Dale
Mezzacappa on Dec 18 2013 Posted in Latest news Photo: Source:
nationsreportcard.gov  Percentage of 4th-grade public school
students performing at or above proficient in NAEP reading.
NAEP is considered the gold standard of standardized
assessments and is the benchmark that state tests are measured
against, amid complaints that some of those tests are not
rigorous enough. Higher percentages of Philadelphia students
score proficient on Pennsylvania's state assessment, the PSSA.
The NAEP results are potentially more reliable because they
involve a sampling of students and there are no high-stakes
consequences attached.  Just 19 percent of Philadelphia students
scored proficient or above on 4th-grade and 8th-grade math,
little change from 2011, the last time that NAEP was
administered. In reading, 14 percent of 4th graders and 16
percent of 8th graders scored proficient or above. That com