NAEP releases new reading vocabulary results

For the first time ever, the National Assessment of Educational Progress issued a separate report on student vocabulary. The report, which was released earlier this month, analyzed results from the 2009 and 2011 NAEP reading test.

Following the 2009 Reading Framework, vocabulary items were developed about the meaning of words as they were used in the context of passages that students read. Results were reported in scale scores and percentiles. Since the results are a subscale of the reading scores, no achievement levels were established for vocabulary.

South Dakota’s Grade 4 and Grade 12 scores were not significantly different from the nation’s scores at those levels; however, South Dakota’s Grade 8 score was slightly higher than the national average.

While there is no significant gender gap for vocabulary, the gap between American Indian students and other South Dakota students is still present. American Indian students who scored in the 90th percentile amongst their own ethnicity still would only fall around the 65th percentile amongst their Caucasian counterparts.

Data provided through the vocabulary results has the potential to guide South Dakota teachers as they continue the shift to the Common Core State Standards in English language arts. Vocabulary is a key piece of Craft and Structure, which asks students to interpret words and phrases as they are used in text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

Click here to view the report in its entirety, including select test questions.