||Ensure that all students are on track to graduate from high
school on-time and ready for college and careers. ||Elementary
school students will be Proficient in reading. |How progress is
measured: ||The percent of public school 4th graders Proficient
on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in
reading |Why is this measure important? ||The educational system
must consistently deliver the excellent classroom instruction
necessary to prepare elementary students for college, enabling
them to reach their full potential. As a country, we must ensure
that, at each stage in the system, students are obtaining the
knowledge and skills they need. By 4th grade, students should
have a solid literacy foundation that they will rely on as they
progress through their education and into a career. |What do the
data tell us at the national level? ||The percentage of 4th-
graders who scored at or above the Proficient level in the
United States was not significantly different in 2009 (32
percent) than it was in 2