America’s Woeful Public Schools: NAEP Shows the Continued Need
for Systemic Reform The percentage of American fourth-graders
reading Below Basic — or functionally illiterate — on the 2011
National Assessment of Educational Progress, the federal test of
student and school achievement. That is a six-point decline from
2002, but no change from the 2009 exams. Meanwhile, 24 percent
of eighth-graders reading Below Basic in 2011, a one-point
decline from 2002. The percentage of all young male fourth-
graders who were functionally illiterate in 2011, a three point
decline from 2002, but barely a drop from 2009. Just 31 percent
of young male fourth-graders read at Proficient and Advanced
levels, a three percent uptick from nine years ago. Meanwhile,
29 percent of young female fourth-grade classmates read Below
Basic in 2011, a four point decline from nine years ago; 36
percent of young female fourth-graders read at Proficient and
Advanced levels, a two percent uptick over that time period. The
percentage of all young