More Resources Writing Report Card

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige issued the following statement regarding the release of The Nation's Report Card: Writing 2002.

"The nation's children are writing better, which is indeed encouraging news. The 2002 National Assessment on Educational Progress (NAEP) in Writing shows that many of our youngsters are doing better than they did in 1998, when this assessment was first given. Writing is an essential communication skill: our children need to be able to write well to inform, to tell a story, to persuade and to express themselves, which is why this assessment is so important.

"The report released today by the National Center for Education Statistics in the Education Department shows that fourth- and eighth-graders have done especially well. Their scores are up, and more of them are reaching the higher achievement levels. This improvement is very important, considering that writing is a key skill for communication that they'll need to excel academically and later, in the work world.

"Meanwhile, we still have to find creative ways to encourage our high school seniors. Their results haven't changed since 1998.

"Overall, there is good news in this NAEP report. White, Black and Hispanic students all had higher average scores than four years ago, and it's encouraging to see that scores for lower-income students have gone up at both the fourth and eighth grades.

"While it appears that our nation's schools are moving in the right direction in producing better writers, there is cause for guarded optimism. We still have a lot of work to do: despite these significant gains, more than two-thirds of the nation's students still perform below the proficient level in writing. We need to make a collective effort to help our students become better writers. It will require diligence because one size does not fit all in any endeavor to improve student performance in any subject. We must find out what works best for which students.

"I am really happy to see that more students are writing better, finding more power in their pens and pencils and -- in this era -- keyboards."

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