Florida’s long-term NAEP gains easily outpace the nation’s

Florida made small gains over the last NAEP cycle, but how does its growth compare over the long haul? Pretty good.

If you go all the way back to the beginning of NAEP time (which can vary from 1990 to 2003 depending on the grade, subject and sub-group), Florida’s gains since then best the national gains in 38 of 40 categories. If NAEP gains were heavyweight boxing, Florida’s career record would be 38-2 with 11 KO’s (beating the average by 10 or more points).

Florida’s average gain per category is 21.5 points (about two grade levels worth of advancement). Its average spread over the national gain is 7.1 points (nearly a grade level).

One caveat: In the two areas where Florida was beat by the national average (4^th grade math by English Language Learners (ELL) and 8^th grade math by low-income Hispanics) the results may be biased because so few states had enough ELL and Hispanic students to compare.