" An increasing number of students in the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools are becoming proficient in reading and mathematics, according to preliminary state assessment results. Nearly 40 percent of students who took the Kansas State Assessments this year scored at the proficient level or above, nearly twice as many as in 2001. Meanwhile, just over 50 percent of students who took the reading test scored at the proficient level or above, a gain of about 20 percent from three years ago."

" Student scoring has become increasingly important in recent years due to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which requires schools to meet benchmarks for proficiency at the school level and in small subgroups such as race and affluence. Reading capability among KCKPS students has skyrocketed since 2003. During 2001-2002, KCKPS students scored about 30 percent proficiency on average."

"[Kansas City, Kansas schools public information officer Carroll] Macke said in eight schools, 70 percent or more students scored proficiently in reading. At the same time, students reading at the lowest level, unsatisfactory, have fallen from nearly 40 percent in 2001 to under 20 percent this year. … The largest scoring gains, said Macke, have been made in the math assessments. Some 32 USD 500 schools, or about three-fourths of the total number of schools, saw an increase in their math scores."