The Jewish Bugle - Test Shows Literacy Among American Fourth-Graders Declining

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Test Shows Literacy Among American Fourth-Graders Declining

By Mark, on Wednesday, 28 November 2007

Published in : The News, U.S. News

Results of a global reading test released on Wednesday showed that children in 10 countries have higher literacy scores than American fourth-graders. According to results from the Progress in International Reading Literacy test, fourth-graders in the U.S. have fallen behind students Hong Kong, Singapore, Luxembourg, Hungary, Russia, Italy, Sweden, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.

American students had average scores that were above international standards, and about the same as those when the last test was given in 2001, when only three countries were ahead of the United States.

Singapore and Hong Kong, which were both behind the U.S. in 2001, have been improving teacher training and promoting reading among children, according to an AP interview with Ina Mullis, co-director of the International Study Center at Boston College.

The test results showed American students lagging behind in spite of the No Child Left Behind law, which was passed in 2002 as part of efforts to increase literacy rates among students in

primary and secondary schools. The law requires schools to administer annual tests in reading and math, and imposes penalties on schools who miss these tests.

The results were also different from the findings of National Assessment of Educational Progress, conducted nationally every four years and dubbed the nation's report card, that said literacy among fourth-grade students had increased somewhat since 2005.

The Progress in International Reading Literacy test is conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement to study trends in reading achievement in fourth graders from 45 countries. (ahn)

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