West Virginia and American students outperform most of their peers around the world in mathematics, but their scores still trail several Asian countries, Russia and England.
To view the reports visit here: www.air.org/news/documents/AIRInternationalBenchmarks2009.pdf and: http://assessment.air.org/Psychometrics_Chart.aspx
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia and U.S. students outperform most of their peers around the world in mathematics, but their scores still trail several Asian countries, Russia and England.
In a recent report, education researchers compared West Virginia's math scores not only with students nationwide, but also with children from Singapore, Hong Kong, Latvia, Denmark, Kuwait, Japan and several other countries.
Researchers tied 2007's math results from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study exam [TIMSS] with that year's math results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP] exam, a test taken by a sample population of fourth-grade and eighth-grade students in West Virginia.
A committee of officials who are affiliated with the National Assessment Governing Board chooses the sample population. State Superintendent of Schools Steve Paine sits on the governing board, but not on the committee.
Sissonville native Gary Phillips is vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based American Institutes for Research, which created the report. The nonprofit is one of the world's largest behavioral and social-science research organizations.
"Gary Phillips was one of the architects of the NAEP," Paine said. "He developed the process where you can equate the performance of NAEP to TIMMS."
According to the report, the test results are comparable because they test students based on grade level, not age, and because both the TIMSS and the NAEP exams were given to students in spring 2007.
In 2007, West Virginia fourth-graders who took the NAEP exam earned a 520 math score in the recent report, worth a "C ," when compared to other states and countries. That score topped 13 other states and the District of Columbia. Students in Hong Kong earned the highest score, at 607, while children in Yemen fared the poorest, with 224.
West Virginia students outperformed Austria, Hungary and Italy but fell just short of Germany, Denmark and the U.S. average score of 529.
Also two years ago, eighth-grade math students in West Virginia topped four other states and the District of Columbia, which landed them among the five lowest-performing states.
To view the reports visit here: www.air.org/news/documents/AIRInternationalBenchmarks2009.pdf and: http://assessment.air.org/Psychometrics_Chart.aspx
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia and U.S. students outperform most of their peers around the world in mathematics, but their scores still trail several Asian countries, Russia and England.
In a recent report, education researchers compared West Virginia's math scores not only with students nationwide, but also with children from Singapore, Hong Kong, Latvia, Denmark, Kuwait, Japan and several other countries.
Researchers tied 2007's math results from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study exam [TIMSS] with that year's math results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP] exam, a test taken by a sample population of fourth-grade and eighth-grade students in West Virginia.
A committee of officials who are affiliated with the National Assessment Governing Board chooses the sample population. State Superintendent of Schools Steve Paine sits on the governing board, but not on the committee.
Sissonville native Gary Phillips is vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based American Institutes for Research, which created the report. The nonprofit is one of the world's largest behavioral and social-science research organizations.
"Gary Phillips was one of the architects of the NAEP," Paine said. "He developed the process where you can equate the performance of NAEP to TIMMS."
According to the report, the test results are comparable because they test students based on grade level, not age, and because both the TIMSS and the NAEP exams were given to students in spring 2007.
In 2007, West Virginia fourth-graders who took the NAEP exam earned a 520 math score in the recent report, worth a "C ," when compared to other states and countries. That score topped 13 other states and the District of Columbia. Students in Hong Kong earned the highest score, at 607, while children in Yemen fared the poorest, with 224.
West Virginia students outperformed Austria, Hungary and Italy but fell just short of Germany, Denmark and the U.S. average score of 529.
Also two years ago, eighth-grade math students in West Virginia topped four other states and the District of Columbia, which landed them among the five lowest-performing states.
The "C" grade earned a 484 score, and West Virginia students and their peers in all other states landed higher than the international average score of 461. Students in Washington, D.C., scored lower than the international average and much lower than the national average, 508.
To Paine, the results "tell us what we've known" from previous international comparisons: America continues to trail Asian countries such as Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan in math. However, Paine notes improvement in math scores and said when compared to other countries, West Virginia did pretty well.
From 2005 to 2007, fourth-grade students improved their math scores on the NAEP exam by five points, from 231 to 236. Researchers consider that a "statistically significant" increase, which is unlikely to have occurred by chance.
In that two-year period, eighth-graders increased their math scores by one point, from 269 to 270, which is not statistically significant.
The state's push for 21st Century Learning, which is geared to focus more on problem solving, critical thinking, an understanding of technology and communication skills, is meant to align with high-level international standards that students need to compete in the future workforce, Paine has said.
He wants West Virginia students and parents to know how well they compare with students across the globe.
"It's just a part of being very transparent right now with our results," Paine said. "If you're not honest with people, with parents and students ... you'll never see the need for improvement."
Also, where other states exclude a high percentage of special-education students from their test results, Paine said West Virginia has not done so for several years.
"When we talk about the NAEP, West Virginia is a state that has been the most transparent," he said. "We exclude the lowest percentage of special-education kids from our sample population."
Paine is working with the others at the National Assessment Governing Board to hold some other states accountable in reporting special-education results.
"I'm not going to change from our position. I think we're doing the right thing," he said. "Other states should be more accurate and honest in the way they're reporting the results."
Reach Davin White at davinwh...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1254.
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These kids have no idea what critical thinking skills are. They simply learn to regurgitate facts and follow methods like drones. A poorly educated workforce will ensure that the jobs of the future here will always be telemarketing, hospitality and unskilled labor. What a waste.
The river's a mile wide... and one inch deep.
Since we're not allowed to ability group anymore, teaching to the average ability student and below, has become the norm. And, it sure appears that we have more below average kids than we used to. Just stick your head inside one of the public preschools and you'll see what I mean.
It's bad, folks.
Face it, folks, West Virginia is the most uneducated State in the U.S. Less than 15% of West Virginia's residents have a four-year college degree. That is disgusting. But, considering the backward attitude of this State, I'm not surprised that college grads choose to live elsewhere. Stupid breeds stupid, and our State is all the evidence one needs.