Hawai'i students' reading skills low but improving

By Allison Schaefers
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i public schoolchildren are still among the least proficient readers in the country, although scores are improving, according to a nationwide educational proficiency report released today.

The 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress, considered one of the most authoritative tests for reading proficiency nationwide, puts Hawai'i fourth-graders 37th out of 48 states and terrorities; Hawai'i eighth-graders rank 36 out of 47 participating jurisdictions.

At the 4th grade level, seven states did not participate or did not meet minimum reporting requirements for the test; at the 8th grade level the number not participating was nine.

The assessment is designed to measure skills students should possess in a given grade, with the goal being for all students to be above basic, which is partial mastery of key skills.

Overall, less than a third of fourth-graders (31 percent) and eighth-graders (33 percent) nationwide showed they could understand and analyze challenging material. That skill level, defined as proficient, is the focal point of the test.

Hawai'i's fourth- and eighth-graders had below-average scores on the national test that 3,603 students took in the spring of 2002. Fourth-graders scored 208 on the test, compared with the national average of 217, and eighth-graders scored 252, compared with the national average of 263.

But public school officials are touting the scores as a significant gain over past years, such as in 1998, when students taking the test scored record lows.

Hawai'i's four-graders scored significantly higher than the 1998 score of 200, and the 8-point gain was twice as much as the 4-point gain in the national average, school officials said.

While the 3-point gain by the state's eighth-graders was not as impressive as progress made by the fourth-graders, it was also greater than the national gain of 2 points, school officials said.

Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto called the scores a "move in the right direction."

"This encouraging improvement in reading score, especially by our fourth-graders, affirms that standards-based learning and our ongoing emphasis on literacy are beginning to produce positive results," Hamamoto said.

Hawai'i fourth-graders placed ahead of eight other states and territories: Alabama, Arizona, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, the District of Columbia, Guam and the Virgin Islands, and scored the same as New Mexico.

Hawai'i eighth-graders performed better than students in California, Nevada, American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam and the Virgin Islands.

Nationwide, fourth-graders made significant strides in reading, while the performance by eighth-graders remained flat.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.