NAEP Test Scores and Minorities, GPA: "According to the National Center for Education Statistics, a typical high school graduate is taking more Advanced Placement courses and earning higher GPAs, but they are failing to show any signs of improvement on their National Assessment of Education Progress, or NAEP, tests.
The NCES released two reports Thursday — “The Nation’s Report Card: America’s High School Graduates” and “The Nation’s Report Card: 12th Grade Reading and Mathematics 2005” — which paint a very conflicting picture of the educational attainment of American high school students. “America’s High School Graduates” reviews the transcripts of 2005 graduates, while “12th Grade Reading and Mathematics 2005” reviews how 21,000 high school seniors at more than 900 schools performed on the NAEP. The data did not include the scores for high school seniors who dropped out before graduating, and it did not take into account variables such as income or poverty.
In 2000, approximately 59 percent of high school graduates had completed at least a standard curriculum. By 2005, the number had increased to about 68 percent. The average GPA had also grown from 2.47 in 1990 to 2.77 by 2005. Although NAEP scores were expected to go up to correspond with the other significant increases, the reports suggest the opposite — the scores have actually been declining substantially since 1992. "
