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SACRAMENTO – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell commented today on the release of results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2007 Grade 8 writing assessment. Results were released for the nation and states, as well as for a sample of large urban school districts, including Los Angeles Unified School District and San Diego Unified School District.

"The NAEP writing results illustrate again California's and the nation's challenge to close the achievement gap,” O'Connell said. "While most of the subgroups of students in California are keeping pace with their peers at the national level, too many students who are Hispanic, African American, or American Indian in both California and the nation are scoring behind their peers who are white or Asian. However, in California these ‘minority' students are the majority of our population. Our state's promise and potential lies with those students. It is our responsibility as educators to focus harder to help all of our students fulfill their full potential.

"It is of interest to note that when compared to the national results, California's English learner population scored the same as English learners nationally, although the average score for English learners fell far below their counterparts who are fluent in English. California has a significantly greater number of English learners compared to the nation on average. Twenty percent of the students who participated in the writing assessment in California were English learners, which is 14 percentage points higher than the nation on average, and significantly greater than every other state. I strongly believe that having an accurate understanding of our students' progress is critical to our efforts to help all students succeed. These results show us that too many of our English learners are underperforming, and we have much work ahead to close this gap.

"Finally, I am heartened to see a 10-point increase in the test scores for special education students in California. We do not have research that indicates specifically what led to this increase. However, having higher expectations for students and ensuring that they have access to the general education curriculum have contributed to more students in special education preparing for and passing the California High School Exit Exam. I believe these same efforts are helping students succeed on NAEP and on other tests."

The Los Angeles Unified School District and the San Diego Unified School District are part of the NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment, which provides NAEP results at the district level. Los Angeles Unified School District participated in the NAEP writing assessments in 2002 and 2007, and San Diego Unified School District participated for the first time in 2007. The 2007 results for Los Angeles Unified School District showed a significant increase from its 2002 average score, as well as the average scores of white and Hispanic subgroups. However, the average score for Los Angeles Unified School District was lower than that of the state's average score. The average score for San Diego Unified School District was comparable to the state.

O'Connell continued, "While I am pleased by the score gains made in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the results, as well as those from the San Diego Unified School District, show that these districts face many of the same challenges that our state and the nation face in improving the progress of students and reducing the achievement gap. I know that the teachers, the administrators, the parents, and the students in these districts are committed to closing the gap. I share that commitment and will continue efforts to help districts find and implement strategies that are effective at helping all students succeed.”

Complete results of the 2007 NAEP writing assessment are available online at The Nation's Report Card [http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/] (Outside Source).