MONTGOMERY -- Alabama's fourth-graders caught up to the rest of the nation in reading scores for the first time in the state's history on the National Assessment of Education Progress, known as The Nation's Report Card, but still trail the nation in math, data released Tuesday show.
According to NAEP results, released by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, Alabama is one of four states to show significant gains in fourth-grade reading, and over the past eight years has shown a greater increase in scale than any other state, moving from 207 in 2003 to the national average of 220 on a 500-point scale in 2011.
Alabama also showed improvement in eighth-grade reading and fourth-grade math, but still lagged the nation in those categories. Eighth-grade math scores remained stagnant, following a national trend.
State officials attributed the reading success to the Alabama Reading Initiative, which began in 1999 and is now in every kindergarten through third-grade school in Alabama.
A little more than one-third of students were proficient or higher in reading, according to the results, and in math, 40 percent of the fourth graders and 35 percent of eighth graders had reached that level.
"This is a great day in Alabama, and a great day for public education," said Tommy Bice, deputy state superintendent in charge of curriculum and instruction. "We have focused ARI on K-3, and you can see from these scores that this had a significant return on investment. But as we move forward, we need to continue our focus in reading and shift the focus to the higher grades."
The news conference Tuesday was reminiscent of one in 2007, when Alabama's fourth-graders broke NAEP records by climbing eight points in one year, more than any other state in the nation. The 2009 scores were stagnant as the rigor of the test increased. The 2011 scores show that the ARI program is working and that more attention needs to be paid to math, officials said.
"ARI really has been a model program," said Gov. Robert Bentley at a news conference at a Montgomery elementary school Tuesday to announce the NAEP results. "I had people in my office recently from France, and they wanted to talk about the reading program."
The math scores in fourth grade showed improvement over the 2009 test for Alabama students, rising three points from 228 to 231, but the eighth-grade score was 269 in both 2009 and 2011.
Alabama focused for too long only on reading, Bice said, at the expense of math. Alabama has since turned its attention to math with the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative, but it's still in fewer than half of the state's schools.
With the state's education budget in dire shape because of a sour economy, a loss in federal stimulus money and having to replenish accounts it had emptied to help school districts make payroll, leaders haven't been able to expand funding for programs such as ARI and AMSTI as much as they would have liked.
Bentley said that despite difficult financial times, he believes in the reading and math programs and they need to be expanded.
"These are programs that work, and I think we need to continue to fund them," he said. "This proves those programs work."
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued a statement after the NAEP results were released saying he was concerned about the results because they showed only modest gains. However, he lauded Alabama in his statement.
"While the national scores are sobering, individual states are leading the way," he said. "Between 2009 and 2011, Alabama fourth graders showed significant increases in reading and mathematics. While this is important progress, Alabama has to sustain the momentum to ensure students continue these gains through eighth grade. Like the rest of the nation, Alabama has to invest in reforms that prepare all students for college and careers."
NAEP is the largest nationally representative assessment of what American students know and can do in various subjects, and is administered every two years. It is the only assessment that allows states to compare their achievement to other states.
The reading test was given to 213,100 fourth-graders, 3,000 in Alabama, and 175,200 eighth-graders, 2,600 in Alabama. The math assessment was given to 209,000 fourth-graders, 3,000 in Alabama, and 168,200 eighth-graders, 2,800 in Alabama.
Interim state Superintendent Larry Craven said the progress on NAEP shows that Alabama is on the rise to being a leader in education.
"While we are excited about the gains made in reading, it's no time to rest on our laurels," he said.