Atlanta Students Make Gains on National Tests
Martha Dalton / WABE
Students in urban school districts are showing significant gains on national tests. And students in the Atlanta Public Schools are making some of the biggest improvements.
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Among students in 10 urban districts, Atlanta students made the biggest gains in fourth grade reading and eighth grade math over the past ten years. That’s according to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, also known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” Joe Blessing, the director of testing and assessment for APS, is cautiously optimistic about the results.
“We have seen that overall, over a long period of time we have been very successful in this district moving our students forward,” Blessing says. “We have a lot more work to do. We have a large gap between our district and some other districts and we want to close that gap.”
Despite big improvements, Atlanta’s scores are still slightly below the national average in most areas. Still, the results are encouraging for a district still recovering from a bruising cheating scandal. The NAEP is administered independently, meaning teachers don’t have any access to the test. Blessing says Atlanta’s results show the district is making real progress.
“It does validate that even though some of our teachers had issues with test security in the past that the vast majority of our teachers are doing what they need to do and are educating our children and our leaders are making a difference in our schools.”
Atlanta students also showed slight improvements across the board since 2011.
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