Media Bias in reporting Educational Progress
By Susan Sarhady
President, Plano Parental Rights Council

Mathematics achievement has been in the news lately because of the recent release of the results of the 2000 National Mathematics Assessment. Results are reported on a state level as well as a national level. The assessment is administered to a sampling of 4th, 8th and 12th grade students. Here is the short list of some of the headlines the report generated:

National Mathematics Assessment Shows Continued Progress for 4th and 8th-Graders
National Center for Education Statistics Press Release, August 2, 2001

School standards boost test success
THE WASHINGTON TIMES, August 6, 2001

Massachusetts fourth graders tie for first in national math exam
BOSTON GLOBE, By Steve Leblanc, Associated Press, August 2, 2001

Fourth-graders score in the plus column: Texas youths do well on national math test
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, August 3, 2001

State math scores best U.S. mean
HOUSTON CHRONICLE, August 3, 2001

Test Shows Students' Gains in Math Falter by Grade 12
NEW YORK TIMES, August 2, 2001

Vermont Students Shine on National Math Test
THE RUTLAND HERALD, August 3, 2001

Texas minority students head of class on math scores
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, Associated Press, August 2, 2001

Students make slow progress on math, test scores show
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, Associated Press, August 2, 2001

Texas students: New test data reveal progress and challenges
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, Editorial Section, August 8, 2001

It is interesting to note how the media, in general, interpreted and reported the results. Specifically, I am going to focus on the Dallas Morning News editorial published on August 8, 2001 and listed above.

I refer directly to the 2000 Mathematics results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress recently released by the National Center for Education Statistics. Since I live in Texas, we?l look specifically at Texas. Additionally, I will focus only on the 4th grade to keep things simple and since everyone can relate to 4th grade math skills. Not everyone relates to Algebra!!

73% of fourth graders in Texas were at the Basic ("partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at each grade") or Below Basic level. Only 27% managed to score at the Proficient ("This level represents solid academic performance for each grade assessed.") or Advanced Level.

Texas 4th graders had a scale score of 233 compared to a national average of 226 on a scale of 500. Now, I haven't gotten into the specifics of raw score equivalents and test construction, but 233 out of 500 is 46.6%. How much different is achievement measured by 7 points on a scale of 500? Not much I'd say.

Key findings DIRECTLY from the report for 4th graders in Texas:

"Students' scale scores in Texas were higher than those in 30 jurisdictions and not significantly higher than those in 15." [There were 47 participants.]

"The percentage of [Texas] students who performed at or above the Proficient level was 27%. This did not differ significantly from Texas' percentage in 1996." [NO improvement using this measure.]

"In Texas, the average scale score of students in 2000 was higher than that of 1996 (229). Similarly, the average scale score for students across the nation in 2000 was higher than that in 1996 (222)." [The national scale score improved from 222 to 226. Texas scale score improved from 229 to 233. Both 4 points. The same improvement.]

Some of the statements made in the Dallas Morning News editorial are starkly at odds with the findings of the report.

The Dallas Morning News (DMN) said, "The results show that Texas fourth-graders improved their math since 1996, when another group of fourth-graders took the last test." But, the level at or above Proficient (working ON grade level) did not change significantly.

The DMN said, "Texas fourth-graders went from 14th nationally to fifth among the 40 states giving the exam." The technical report is not yet available, but I would guess that the scale scores are not meant to rank individual states. There are actually three separate administrations of the NAEP: Long Term Trend NAEP -- National scores only, Main NAEP -- National scores only, State NAEP -- State level scores often reported in the same table with the Main NAEP scores, which leads to confusion and misinterpretation, too. Exclusion rates also affect NAEP results, and we haven't seen any data on that. Texas cannot be 5th in the nation when the scale score, according to NAEP, is "not significantly higher than those in 15" jurisdictions. (Emphasis mine.)

The DMN said, "Minority students particularly performed well." Actually, results show 88% of black students, and 85% of Hispanic students At Basic or Below [grade level] in fourth grade compared to 55% of white students. These types of results should be absolutely UNACCEPTABLE to parents and educators.

The media is doing parents and their readers a great disservice by reporting the Texas NAEP results in such a way as to imply there has been much progress and that it is a system the rest of the nation should emulate. This is fourth grade math, folks, not rocket science. There is not much point in debating ?lgebra for all?if we cannot teach students to add, subtract, multiply and divide. Mathematics education in the nation, AND Texas, is a disgrace. We ought to tell it like it is.