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MATHEMATICS CONT’D
Pieces of the Puzzle
showed the highest overall level of complete and partial alignment (72 percent) between its standards and the NAEP specifications in fourth-grade math. In contrast, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Charlotte/North Carolina showed similarly moderate alignment. By and large, however, complete alignments across the four jurisdictions were at or below 50 percent overall and in the subscales. (See table 4b.12 and figure 4b.3) Figure 4b.3 Number of complete and partial matches with NAEP grade 4 mathematics specifications, by selected districts (N of NAEP specifications = 65), 2007*
*44 (68 percent) of Atlanta’s grade 4 math standards matched NAEP’s 65 math specifications either completely or partially; 47 (72 percent) of Boston’s grade 4 math standards matched NAEP’s 65 math specifications either completely or partially; 52 (80 percent) of Massachusetts’s grade 4 math standards matched NAEP’s 65 math specifications either completely or partially; 43 (66 percent) of Charlotte’s grade 4 math standards matched NAEP’s 65 math specifications either completely or partially; 43 (66 percent) of Cleveland’s grade 4 math standards matched NAEP’s 65 math specifications either completely or partially; and 49 (75 percent) of Ohio’s grade 4 math standards matched NAEP’s 65 specifications either completely or partially.
103 Council of the Great City Schools and the American Institutes for Research
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PIECES OF THE PUZZLE: FACTORS IN THE IMPROVEMENT OF URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS ON THE NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS