For a second year, Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) students continued to exhibit high levels of achievement in reading and math on the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), according to The Nation’s Report Card, Trial Urban District Reports in Reading and Mathematics, which was released today by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

“Exceptionally high results for Miami-Dade County Public Schools students in 2009 produced a great deal of second-guessing on the part of naysayers,” said Superintendent of Schools Alberto M. Carvalho. “This year's repeated high performance is confirmation that our students really are excelling.”

The progress comes in spite of decreased economic resources available to the District and to our students and their families. More than 5,300 students in 160 schools in Miami-Dade County participated in the 2011 NAEP administration in grades 4 and 8.

Among the highlights of this year’s results:

District students outscored their counterparts in large cities (populations over 250,000) both in terms of average scale scores and percentage scoring above basic in reading, grades 4 and 8; and in mathematics, grade 4.
M-DCPS Hispanic students maintained their high level of achievement seen in 2009.
The District’s high scores in reading and mathematics in 2009 held steady in 2011 for students in both grades 4 and 8, parallel to students in Florida statewide.
This is M-DCPS’ second year of participation in the Trial Urban District Assessment program, which compares the achievement of students in large urban districts (populations over 250,000) that face similar challenges with regard to poverty and high-risk populations.

The participating districts for 2011 were Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, District of Columbia, Fresno, Hillsborough (FL), Houston, Jefferson County (KY), Los Angeles, Miami-Dade, Milwaukee, New York City, Philadelphia, and San Diego. Three of the districts participated for the first time this year (italicized), including a second Florida district, Hillsborough County Public Schools.