The National Center for Education Statistics recently released the 2007 results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Report Card. The spin is rather rosy, but California parents and policy makers should be aware of the darker picture related to actual performance.

The annual assessments in reading and math are given to fourth and eighth graders across the country. Approximately 700,000 students were assessed for the 2007 results. Mark Schneider, the Commissioner for the National Center for Education Statistics, emphasized the progress made since 2005.

"In both subjects, there was an increase in the percentage of students performing at or above Basic and at or above Proficient," he said in a statement. Schneider similarly touted gains for all ethnic groups, explaining, "in both subjects, White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian and Pacific Islander fourth-grade students attained higher scores than their peers in 2005." But despite improvement, students fail at a distressingly high rate to attain proficiency.

For example, this year's Report Card shows that 61 percent of fourth graders across the nation are below proficient in mathematics. The numbers for reading are just as low. A full 67 percent of fourth graders score below proficient in reading.

Many who would make excuses for this poor performance claim that the students tested lack proper English skills, come from poor families, or suffer from some other disadvantage.  These excuses imply that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are unable to perform at high levels, a claim that consistently refuted by high-performing charter schools in disadvantaged areas. Yet even if one considers the socioeconomic background of students, the results are disappointing. 

Test scores across the nation for all "non-poor" students — that is, students who do not qualify for free and reduced lunch programs — show that even these more privileged kids are not performing well.  Indeed, across the nation, a full 47 percent of fourth graders and 58 percent of 8th graders tested below the proficient level in mathematics.  In reading the numbers were even worse.  56 percent of non-poor fourth graders and 61 percent of non-poor eighth graders tested below proficient in reading.

In California, the numbers dropped below even the dismal national averages.  For non-poor California students, only 54 percent of fourth graders and 64 percent of eighth graders tested proficient in mathematics. A full 63 percent of fourth graders and 68 percent of eighth graders tested below proficient in reading. These dismal results are not surprising considering the findings of a newly released book by the Pacific Research Institute. 

In Not As Good As You Think: Why the Middle Class Needs School Choice, Lance Izumi, Vicki Murray and I examined middle-class public schools in California.  We found that 284 — almost 14 percent — of all middle-class schools had fewer than 50 percent of their students meeting grade-level proficiency in at least one subject.  A closer look revealed that less than half the students even in extremely wealthy areas failed to meet proficiency levels.

The time has come for voters, parents, and lawmakers to stop excusing the inexcusable. Our students deserve better than what we are giving them.  Grade-level proficiency is not a pie-in-the-sky dream, but a realistic goal that the vast majority of students should be able to achieve. We need to act for the future of our children by making schools accountable through competition and parental choice. California can also promote accountability through bonus-pay options for teachers who help improve student performance.