March 2010 - Minnesota 2009 Reading Grade 4 State Snapshot
Score Gaps for Student Groups

• Female students in Minnesota had an average score that was higher than that of male students.
• Black students had an average score that was 35 points lower than that of White students. This performance gap was not significantly different from that in 1992 (34 points).
• Hispanic students had an average score that was 36 points lower than that of White students. Data are not reported for Hispanic students in 1992, because reporting standards were not met.
• Students who were eligible for free/reduced-price school lunch, an indicator of low income, had an average score that was 30 points lower than that of students who were not eligible for free/reduced-price school lunch. This performance gap was not significantly different from that in 1998 (30 points).

March 2010 - Minnesota 2009 Reading Grade 8 State Snapshot
Score Gaps for Student Groups

• Female students in Minnesota had an average score that was higher than that of male students.
• Black students had an average score that was 31 points lower than that of White students. This performance gap was not significantly different from that in 1998 (38 points).
• Hispanic students had an average score that was 28 points lower than that of White students. Data are not reported for Hispanic students in 1998, because reporting standards were not met.
• Students who were eligible for free/reduced-price school lunch, an indicator of low income, had an average score that was 24 points lower than that of students who were not eligible for free/reduced-price school lunch. This performance gap was not significantly different from that in 1998 (23 points).

June 2008 - High-Achieving Students in the Era of No Child Left Behind - During the NCLB era, achievement gaps between high- and low-achieving students have narrowed. Both high and low achievers have made test score gains since the federal government debated and implemented NCLB—though not necessarily because of NCLB—but low achievers have gained more. The trend is evident on both national and state NAEP scores, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation (Executive summary; Full report).

Key findings:

• While the nation’s lowest-achieving youngsters made rapid gains from 2000 to 2007, the performance of top students was languid. Children at the tenth percentile of achievement (the bottom 10 percent of students) have shown solid progress in fourth-grade reading and math and eighth-grade math since 2000, but those at the 90th percentile (the top 10 percent) have made minimal gains.
  
  
• This pattern—big gains for low achievers and lesser ones for high achievers—is associated with the introduction of accountability systems in general, not just NCLB. An analysis of NAEP data from the 1990s shows that states that adopted testing and accountability regimes before NCLB saw similar patterns before NCLB: stronger progress for low achievers than for high achievers.

Local response:
October 22, 2009 - Federal rules leave gifted kids behind - By teaching to the middle, we fail to help top learners achieve their potential, Star Tribune.

February 2007 - 2005 NAEP High School Transcript Study - This report presents information about the types of courses 2005 high school graduates took during high school, how many credits they earned, and the grades they received. Information on the relationships between high school records and performance in mathematics and science on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is also included, National Assessment of Educational Progress, National Assessment Governing Board National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences U.S. Department of Education.

May 2006 - Closing the Gap in Reading and Math: NAEP Trends Show Significant Positive Effects for Almost Half the States - Several states with relatively high overall scores at Basic level in Reading and Math e.g., above 78 percent (e.g. North Dakota, Vermont, and Minnesota) did not have significant gains in the scores of low income students, Council of Chief State School Officers.

December 2005 - Leveling the Playing Field 2005: Identifying Outperforming and Underperforming States on the NAEP in Demographic Context, Standard & Poor’s.

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The Nation's Report Card: Parents' Guide to NAEP - Describes the NAEP program from a parent's perspective.