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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted at 11:52 a.m., Thursday, June 19, 2003

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.