Nation's Report Card Shows Improvement For Miami-Dade Students

MIAMI, FL — While the average reading score for American fourth- and eighth-grade students decreased between 2017 and 2019, the average scores in Miami-Dade County also declined for fourth-grade students but rose slightly for eighth-grade students, according to data compiled by The Nation's Report Card.

The data which was released Wednesday by the National Center for Education Statistics, reveals mixed math scores over the same two-year period nationwide, with an increase at grade four and a decrease at grade eight.

In Miami-Dade County, math scores increased by one point in grade four and three points at grade eight. National program officials described a three- or four-point gain as significant.

In Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, fourth-grade math scores declined by two points while eighth-grade math scores declined by one point. Fourth-grade reading scores declined by three points while eighth-grade reading scores declined by four points.

Florida students overall experienced significant declines in reading at both the fourth-grade and eighth-grade levels.

“Florida has been on top in recent years,” NCES associate commissioner Peggy G. Carr told reporters. “But now, Florida is showing some significant declines. I can’t tell you why, but it is clearly there. These are not random declines.”

She said Florida students experienced a four-point decline in fourth-grade reading and a three-point decline in eighth-grade reading.

“A four is something to be concerned about,” she said. “A three-point decline in eighth-grade reading is fairly substantial.”

Some 6,800 students from 183 schools in Miami-Dade County Public Schools were counted in the 2019 data, according to district officials.

Miami-Dade school officials said fourth graders ranked first in both reading and math among all participating large urban school districts, referred to as Trial Urban District Assessments or TUDAs.

District officials said Miami-Dade scores were "significantly higher" than other public schools nationwide with respect to fourth-grade reading and math.

"Although fourth grade mathematics performance declined nationwide, M-DCPS students maintained their relative high standing among national public and large city schools nationwide," district officials explained.

Miami-Dade eighth graders ranked second in reading and sixth in mathematics, up from fifth place and 10th place respectively in 2017.

"Subgroup analyses also revealed that M-DCPS students fared well in comparison to their counterparts nationwide," officials said.

Miami-Dade Hispanic students achieved higher reading and mathematics scores in all tested grade levels than both the national public school and large city samples, according to district officials.

Black students in Miami-Dade scored higher mean scores than national public schools and large city samples in grade four reading and math as well as higher than large city samples in grade eight reading.

Students with disabilities in Miami-Dade also achieved higher mean scale scores than their counterparts in the national public school sample in grade four reading and math as well as grade eight reading. Officials said they also scored higher than the large city sample in all grades and content areas tested.

"In addition, in our district, where nearly 70 percent of our students are eligible for the free/reduced price lunch program, those eligible students outscored their counterparts in both the national public and large city school samples in both grade levels and content areas tested," district officials said.

In addition to Hillsborough and Miami-Dade, Duval County schools also were included in the comparison.

"While the three Florida districts that participate in the Trial Urban District Assessments program scored among the top districts nationwide, M-DCPS met or exceeded the mean scale scores received in both Hillsborough and Duval Counties across all four grade level/content areas," Miami-Dade officials explained.

The reading declines at the national level were seen at all levels of achievement, whether students were high- or low-achieving, with the exception of the highest achieving fourth-graders. Score declines for lower performing students drove the overall score decrease in grade eight math, according to national program officials.

“Over the past decade, there has been no progress in either mathematics or reading performance, and the lowest performing students are doing worse,” Carr observed. “In fact, over the long term in reading, the lowest performing students — those readers who struggle the most — have made no progress from the first NAEP administration almost 30 years ago.”

Carr also noted that eighth-grade students showed declines in both reading and math.

“Eighth grade is a transitional point in preparing students for success in high school, so it is critical that researchers further explore the declines we are seeing here, especially the larger, more widespread declines across states we are seeing in reading," she said.

The Nation's Report Card is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what students in the United States know and can do in various subject areas, according to program officials. It is also known as the “gold standard” of student assessments.

Nationwide, NCES assessed some 293,700 students in reading and 296,900 students in mathematics.

The average reading score for fourth graders decreased one point, to 220, between 2017 and 2019. Eighth graders’ reading scores decreased three points, to 263. Compared to a decade ago, the 2019 average reading scores at each grade were not significantly different, but they were higher when compared to the assessment in 1992, national officials said.

In math, the 2019 average score for fourth-graders was 241, which is one point higher than in 2017. Eighth graders scored one point lower at 282.

Over the past decade, average scores for mathematics at both grades did not change significantly. Mathematics scores were higher in 2019 than the first assessment in 1990.

Among the findings:

• Average scores for fourth-grade reading decreased in three of the TUDA districts: Jefferson County (Kentucky), Miami-Dade, and Milwaukee. No districts saw an increase.
• Average scores for eighth-grade reading decreased in 11 of the districts: Albuquerque, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Duval County (Florida), Fort Worth (Texas), Hillsborough County, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Philadelphia. The only increase was for the District of Columbia Public Schools.
• Average scores for fourth-grade math decreased in only one district, Guilford County (North Carolina). Scores increased in five districts: Clark County (Nevada), Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, and District of Columbia Public Schools.
• Average scores for eighth-grade math decreased in three of the districts: Dallas, Fort Worth (Texas), and Los Angeles. Scores increased in four districts: Denver, District of Columbia Public Schools, Guilford County (North Carolina), and Shelby County (Tennessee).
• Charlotte-Mecklenburg and San Diego were the only districts to perform higher than the large city average in all grades.
• District of Columbia Public Schools was the only district to score increases in three of four grade/subject combinations.

Click here to see the complete findings.