Va. 8th-Graders Edge Peers in Writing

U.S. eighth-graders and high school seniors showed stronger writing skills last year than their counterparts did five years earlier, a federal report says, and eighth-graders in Virginia public schools continued to beat the national average.

The writing assessment, part of a federally financed series of findings known as the Nation's Report Card, aims to get a handle on how well students across the country can craft essays, letters and stories.

Virginia's public school eighth-graders edged their peers elsewhere in writing scores made public yesterday, earning an average of 157 on a 300-point scale, compared with the national average of 154. The state also exceeded the national average for that measure in 2002 and 1998.

Maryland and the District did not participate in the writing test last year. There were no state-by-state results for 12th-graders.

Billy K. Cannaday Jr., Virginia's superintendent of instruction, said that although the state's students stack up well in a national comparison, he's not satisfied because their average score has remained unchanged since 2002.

"Young people who communicate clearly and effectively stand out, especially in this era of text messaging and electronic chatter," Cannaday said. "While Virginia's public schools produce some of the nation's strongest writers, we must do more to equip students with the communications skills they need to compete in the global economy of the 21st century."

More than 165,000 public and private school students in 45 states completed the writing test last year for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, responding to prompts that required them to write creative essays, convey a message or influence a reader. Seniors, for example, were asked to compose an essay arguing whether "big" inventions, such as television and computers, or "small" ones, such as headphones, play a bigger role in daily life.

Nationwide, scores for eighth- and 12th-graders had risen. The average score for all eighth-grade students, in public and private schools, was 156 last year, up three points from 2002. Seniors in public and private schools scored an average of 153, up five points.

Black, white and Asian students posted gains, although achievement gaps persist. Hispanic eighth-graders improved, but the average score for Hispanic seniors remained unchanged.

Virginia reported that its black and Hispanic eighth-graders in public school exceeded the national average.

"Most of the nation's eighth- and 12th-graders are doing a solid job of writing to inform, persuade and tell stories," said Amanda Avallone, an assistant principal at a Colorado charter school and vice chairwoman of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the Nation's Report Card. The program measures achievement trends in various subjects through the periodic testing of U.S. students. "But we need to work harder to strengthen achievement for black, Hispanic and male students," she said.

Last year's writing assessment was the third administered since 1998. More students in each grade earned a basic rating, which requires they show some mastery of the writing skills. But the percentage of students who earned the higher rating of proficiency, indicating more developed responses using analytical or creative thinking and few errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation, remained unchanged since 2002.

The report also shows that high school boys, who have lagged behind their female classmates, are gaining ground. Girls still had a higher average score, but the gap between the sexes has narrowed since 2002.