The Federal Education Budget Project has ranked the reading proficiency rates of the nation’s fourth-graders based on 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress test scores. Massachusetts scored the highest with 47 percent. New York placed 14th at 36 percent.
The District of Columbia came in last with only 17 percent. Ironically, Washington DC was named 2010’s most literate city. The chart embedded above measures the proficiency rate by region.
Here’s more about the results: “The percent of 4th graders nationwide that scored proficient or above in reading on the NAEP only increased by four percentage points between 1992 (29 percent) and 2009 (33 percent). The percent of African American 4th graders scoring proficient or above in reading has increased by eight percentage points (8 percent to 16 percent proficient). Hispanic students are also performing better on 4th grade reading tests—the percent of students scoring proficient or above has increased five percentage points (12 percent to 17 percent proficient). The percent of white students scoring proficient or above has increased as well (35 percent to 42 percent proficient).” (via The Huffington Post)