White minus Black score gaps on NAEP Grade 4 Math widen in Jefferson County

Other JCPS gaps stay the same But, the NAEP itself might have problems This graphic from the 2017 NAEP report’s web page shows JCPS is one of the very few large school districts in the county where white minus black achievement gaps actually grew by a statistically significant amount between 2015 and 2017 in Grade 4 math.

In other subjects, JCPS like other large school systems saw no change in the already large white minus black achievement gaps.

This isn’t progress.

Unfortunately, I have to couch these 2017 NAEP results with a caution that there is controversy about the accuracy of the scores due to issues surrounding the transition to digital testing. While those running the NAEP claim the 2017 results are solid, there has been public discussion about the possibility that state level (and by extension the district level) scores might have problems.

Even Kentucky’s commissioner of education Stephen Pruitt has now weighed in on this, saying:

“Our students, and those in a handful of other states that still give paper and pencil state tests seemed to be at a disadvantage with the new online NAEP assessments,” Pruitt said. “It is an entirely different experience taking a test on a tablet than with the paper and pencil our kids are used to. Going digital seemed to have an impact on results especially in reading.”

We might not know the real story about the 2017 NAEP for years.