Fourth- and Eighth-Grade Mathematics Scores Rise in Several
Urban School Districts; Reading Scores, Following National
Trend, Remain Flat Math Scores in Two Districts Surpass National
Average for Both Grades (Washington, D.C.) — Reading scores of
fourth- and eighth-grade students in 21 urban public school
districts on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) followed the national trend by remaining mostly
flat, with no significant change from 2009. However, average
mathematics scores rose in several districts, including some
districts where scores were higher than those of large cities
and the nation. In mathematics, scores at grade 4 were higher in
2011 than in 2009 in four districts—Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore
City and Philadelphia—and at grade 8 in six districts—Atlanta,
Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, the District of Columbia and
Jefferson County, Ky. Compared to the first TUDA in 2003, nine
of the 10 districts that participated in both years scored
higher in 2011 at both grades 4 and 8. In