1. Using NAEP Results to Examine State Trends in Mathematics Achievement
Janet H. Kane
Norman L. Webb
Wisconsin Center for Education Research
University of Wisconsin--Madison
Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association Montreal, Canada April, 2005

2. Research Goals
Develop state profiles from NAEP data for tracking the effects of a state’s educational improvement efforts.
Identify differences between states with large increases in NAEP mathematics achievement and other states.

3. Methodology
Graphical displays of descriptive statistics across time (1992, 1996, and 2000)
Goal 1 - Trends from 1992 to 2000 at grades 4 and 8
Mean mathematics composite
Content strand means
Percentage of students at each achievement level
Cohort growth on content strands from grade 4 to
grade 8

4. Mathematics composite by gender
Mathematics composite by race/ethnicity
Achievement levels by race
Cohort growth by race
Black/White achievement gaps for mathematics composites and content strands
Hispanic/White achievement gaps for mathematics composites and content strands
Indicators of reform-related instructional practices

5. Examples
Goal 2 – Comparisons between states with large increases in mathematics achievement (i.e., > 9.5 points across 8 years) and other states (N = 30)
4th
8th
North Carolina
19.58L
21.72L
Indiana
13.38L
12.95L
Texas
14.75L
10.26L
Louisiana
13.82L
9.00
West Virginia
9.58L
11.69L
Michigan
11.01L
11.10L
Alabama
9.61L
9.97L
Massachusetts
8.36
10.34L
Virginia
9.63L
8.81
New York
8.11
9.84L
Maryland
4.99
11.18L
N L= 8
N L= 9

6. Findings
States with comparatively large increases in their mathematics composites also had:
Relatively large mean increases on several content strands
Relatively large mean increases for more than one racial/ethnic group
Decreases of 10 points or more in the percentage of students Below Basic in all racial/ethnic groups
Narrowing of Black/White achievement gaps at grade 4
Narrowing of Hispanic/ White achievement gaps at grade 8

7. General Conclusion
States with large gains in their mean mathematics composites emphasized broad content coverage and reached diverse populations in their educational reforms.

8. What’s possible across 8 years?
Increase mean composite at the rate of 2 to 3 scale points per year.
Decrease the percentage of students Below Basic by 2 to 3 percentage points per year.
Increase the percentage At or Above Proficient by 1 to 2 points a whole for all students.
One state, Indiana, had similar increases for Black, White, and Hispanic students at grade 4.

9. The complete paper and state profiles are available at:
Select
Publications
Informing State Mathematics Reform Through State NAEP
NAEP State Profiles
This research was supported by grants from the U. S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation