@plthomasEdD won't admit it, but MS actually is starting to show improvement in Grade 8 Reading compared to other states as of 2024. Here are factual examples produced with the NAEP Data Explorer.

Got more info on the scoring of Kentucky's 11th grade SAT tests. The scale used for the science score is only from 50 to 70. Wow! That permits almost no differentiation between top and bottom scorers and is hugely different from the 200 to 800 scale SAT uses for math and reading plus writing. The table below shows the scoring for white and Black students on the Kentucky grade 11 SAT in 2026. The science scores can be converted to the regular 200-800 scale as follows: (200-800 Science Score) = (((50-70 Science Score) - 50) X 30)+ 200 For white students, that works out to a 200-800 scale score for science of 488. For Black students, the 200-800 scale score is 437. The achievement gap, once we use a familiar scoring scale, is then 51 points. So, do you think the published scores, using a scale no one ever uses or understands, showing a gap of only 1.7 points, is very revealing? Does this cover up a bigger problem? Did Kentucky get useful science information at all?

Next I looked at elementary school math for Kentucky in 2026. Again, I added the new scores on slides that were used last year to brief the state board on the 2025 results. Except for African Americans, the scores were perfectly flat from last year and in every case fewer than one in two students were proficient. There's nothing to cheer about here.

Kentucky's 2026 assessment and accountability results are out, and I already talked about a major concern with SAT testing. So, how about results from the Kentucky Summative Assessments. I added 2026 results to slides KDE used last year to report on the 2025 results. The first two are for elementary school reading. As you can see, there were small increases in scores, but even if we are talking about white students, scarcely more than one in two was proficient in reading in 2026, and the numbers are a lot worse for the minorities.

Kentucky released its 2026 public school assessment and accountability program scores today. My first puzzle involves scores from the 11th grade testing with the SAT, which replaced the ACT for the first time. State law requires testing English, reading, math and science, but SAT only actually tests math and combined reading and writing. So, SAT said they would somehow create science scores for Kentucky from those two test elements (they ignored English completely). Below is an example of what got reported today. Can anyone explain to me how science got scored so differently from the actual SAT subjects of math and reading and writing? How can anyone make much use of the science scores. Also notice how much smaller the achievement gap is with science. Does that seem credible?

1/ Actually, the NAEP has provided a measure of rigor in state assessments for some time. The latest full report is "Mapping State Proficiency Standards Onto the NAEP Scales Results From the 2022 NAEP Reading and Mathematics Assessments" and is online here: nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcar…. The grading standard for proficiency on Virginia's Grade 4 reading and math and Grade 8 reading are among the very lowest in the nation. A preliminary report on the 2024 NAEP results indicates that Virginia will continue to place very low in reading in both Grades 4 and 8. nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcar…. Virginia's Grade 8 math standards are not graded because the state offers two different assessments for general math and algebra I and that splits the tested cohort to below the criteria used in the mapping studies.

@drjohnthompson Your comment about Mississippi not showing improvement in Grade 8 reading is out of date. The tables below, created with the NAEP Data Explorer, show that at least compared to other states in the post-COVID era, Mississippi is starting to move up in NAEP Grade 8 Reading, too.

BTW, the notable performance for Mississippi in Grade 4 is now starting to show in Grade 8, as well, at least compared to other states.

And, the notable progress in Grade 4 reading in Mississippi is now starting to show in Grade 8, at least relative to other states.

Maybe not a full miracle, but Mississippi's progress is still notable. Here is how the state shaped up in Grade 4 in 2013 when it passed major reform legislation and the latest NAEP results for 2024. Comparisons by separate races per recommendations on Page 32 in the NAEP 2009 Science Report Card. Tables generated with the NAEP Data Explorer. As I said, notable.