2015 Wyoming NAEP Scores Released

Wyoming's fourth and eighth graders continue to outperform national average test scores in math and reading.

Results from the state's 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released Wednesday, show only two states performed higher in fourth grade math and only three states performed higher in fourth grade reading. In eighth grade, six states performed higher in math and five states performed higher in reading.

"While we're doing a favorable job according to the nation's report card, there's always room for improvement," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow. "We know that there are achievement gaps that exist at the national level, as well as the state level, so we're certainly not going to stop there, we want to address those gaps and get them filled."

Between 2013 and 2015, national NAEP scores either sank or remained flat. Wyoming, however, met or exceeded national NAEP results in all areas.

"We like this metric because it really is apples to apples across states and across the nation in terms of just kind of dropping that dipstick into the tank and letting us know where our students are achieving," said Balow. "What it tells us in a nutshell is that our teachers and schools are doing a great job everyday working to make sure that our students know what they need to know and can demonstrate what they need to demonstrate to be successful in school and in life."

NAEP testing is administered every two years in math and reading to a statistical sampling of fourth and eighth graders. All fifty states, including the District of Columbia and Department of Defense schools, participate in the assessment.