White and Asian students make minimal improvement, while minority students aren't improving.
On last year's exam, 38 percent of students rated as proficient in reading. While the trend is moving in the right direction, the percentage of proficient students still lags behind 1992 levels. Scores were up in math, rising from 23 percent to 26 percent.
In reaction to the data release this morning, Education Secretary Arne Duncan gave a sobering reaction, saying essentially that the results still indicate that our children's abilities aren't yet up to snuff:
Today's report suggests that high school seniors' achievement in reading and math isn't rising fast enough to prepare them to succeed in college and careers. ... President Obama has set a goal that the United States once again will have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by the end of the decade. In a survey that accompanied the NAEP test, 86 percent of seniors said they expect to graduate college.\n