A look at math scores by state

October 14th, 2009 Math tests: Fourth-grader progress stallsWASHINGTON — After two decades of slow and steady progress in math, U.S. fourth-graders made no improvement over 2007, according to nationwide test scores released Wednesday.

October 14th, 2009 Math tests: Fourth-grade progress stallsWASHINGTON — New test scores show fourth-graders made no gains in math since 2007, although eighth-graders' scores improved. Math results were released Wednesday from the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

October 12th, 2009 NM school goes from worst to among best in 3 yearsTOHATCHI, N.M. — Fifth grader Darius Yazzie's after-school chores include hauling water for horses and feeding chickens, while his classmate, Shanika Begay, rides a bus 15 miles each way through the rolling hills of this impoverished corner of the Navajo Nation.

September 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON — Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way. Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

September 24th, 2009 White House looks to improve No Child Left BehindWASHINGTON — The Obama administration is committed to the school accountability at the heart of the No Child Left Behind law championed by former President George W. Bush but also wants to make changes, says Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

September 23rd, 2009 White House backs accountability of 'No Child' lawWASHINGTON — The Obama administration is committed to the testing and school accountability at the heart of the No Child Left Behind law championed by former President George W. Bush, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said.

August 19th, 2009 ACT scores hold steady as test-taking pool expandsAverage scores on the ACT college entrance exam held steady for the high school class of 2009, a sign of modest progress considering the pool of students taking the test continues to expand. Nationally, more students earned scores indicating they're prepared to succeed in college in all four areas tested by the ACT: English, math, reading and science.

July 14th, 2009 Achievement gap still splits white, black studentsWASHINGTON — Despite unprecedented efforts to improve minority achievement in the past decade, the gap between black and white students remains frustratingly wide, according to an Education Department report released Tuesday. There is good news in the report: Reading and math scores are improving for black students in public schools across the country.

July 9th, 2009 Georgia could toss suspect math exam resultsATLANTA — Georgia could become the latest state to punish schools caught cheating on standardized tests, becoming another example of what some observers call an alarming trend of educators caving under the pressure to meet federal achievement standards. The state Board of Education is set to vote Thursday on whether to void the test scores for four elementary schools and revoke their favorable standing on federal No Child Left Behind measurements.

July 8th, 2009 Malaysia drops English used to teach math, scienceKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia announced Wednesday it will abandon the use of English to teach math and science, bowing to protesters who demanded more use of the national Malay language. Malay will be reinstated in state-funded schools starting in 2012 because teaching in English caused academic results in those subjects to slip, Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said.

June 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - While women have always been considered to be innately less capable than men at dealing with mathematical problems, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have now said in a study report that the primary cause for the gender disparity in math performance at all levels is culture, not biology. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the article analyses and summarizes recent data on math performance at all levels in the United States and internationally.

May 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Dalhousie math professor Jason Brown has once again applied mathematical principles to music to determine what make the blues "the blues". The professor, whose groundbreaking research has already deconstructed the opening chord to The Beatles' A Hard Days Night, has now made an attempt at analyzing the blues progression, which is said to be the "most famous chord progression in modern music".

May 6th, 2009 White House seeks comments on education lawWASHINGTON — The Obama administration is committed to the testing and school accountability at the heart of the No Child Left Behind law championed by former President George W. Bush, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said.

May 5th, 2009 No Child: Obama prepares for overhaulWASHINGTON — Education Secretary Arne Duncan is a man on a mission: to hear what teachers, students and parents in at least 15 states think about No Child Left Behind, the controversial education law championed by former President George W. Bush. Duncan is visiting schools in West Virginia Tuesday, the first stop in the first steps toward reviewing and reforming the program.

April 28th, 2009 Kids make gains in reading and mathWASHINGTON — Kids are making strides in reading and math, though progress in math seems stalled among high school students, according to a federal report that tracked test scores going back to the 1970s. The scores come from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, considered the benchmark of how students perform across the country.