• In the most recent pre-2011 assessment year—2002 for fourth graders and 2007 for eighth and 12th graders—close to 90% of students in the two lower grades demonstrated at least basic writing achievement, which reflected modest growth since 1998 (Indicator I-04a).1 The rise is attributable to an increase in the share of students demonstrating higher-order writing skills.
• Twelfth-grade performance was somewhat lower and more dynamic than that of the fourth or eighth graders. Seniors’ performance slipped from 1998 to 2002, with the percentage of students scoring at the basic achievement level or better declining from 78% to 74%. But over the next five years the lost ground was recovered.
• In 2007, the percentage of 12th graders scoring at the basic level or higher was 82%. This gain reflects growth of the share of students who demonstrated basic writing competence. No growth occurred from 2002 to 2007 in the share of high school seniors exhibiting writing proficiency. (Within the NAEP framework, a proficient writer is one who demonstrates a grasp of writing skills that are essential for success in most walks of life; these skills include the use of transitional elements and the ability to select language appropriate for the intended audience.)
• Since 1998, fewer than one in four soon-to-be high school graduates have been assessed as writing at the proficient level or higher.
• The sample of twelfth graders assessed in 2002 was from the same cohort of students from which the 1998 sample of eighth graders was drawn. Between early and late adolescence, this cohort’s demonstrated writing ability declined, with 26% of them failing to demonstrate at least basic competency when they were seniors, compared with only 16% of them when they were in eighth grade.2
• In 2011, the distribution of eighth graders among the various achievement levels was virtually identical to that of 12th graders (Indicator I-04b). The largest share of students, just over half in each grade, demonstrated only basic achievement in writing. Approximately a quarter of students in each grade level demonstrated true proficiency in writing. At the other end of the performance spectrum, approximately 20% of both eighth and 12th graders scored below the basic achievement level.

Endnotes

• 1

  The 2011 NAEP writing assessment was based on a redesigned framework that defines writing as “a complex, multifaceted, and purposeful act of communication that is accomplished in a variety of environments, under various constraints of time, and with a variety of language resources and technological tools.”* In keeping with this definition, all assessment tasks specified both a definite purpose for the writing and a specific audience the writing should address. The framework, questions, and scoring scales for the writing assessment were revised, and the examination was administered for the first time on computer. Due to these changes to the assessment, 2011 results cannot be meaningfully compared to those from previous years. Thus the Humanities Indicators presents results for 2011 separately from those for earlier assessments. Barring additional fundamental changes to the testing instrument, the results of future assessments will be compared with the 2011 results. 

  * U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, The Nation’s Report Card: Writing 2011: National Assessment of Educational Progress at Grades 8 and 12, NCES 2012-470 (Washington, DC: U.S Department of Education, 2012), 4, http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/main2011/2012470.pdf.

   
• 2The cohort of 12th graders who were assessed as part of NAEP did not include those students who dropped out of school before reaching their senior year. Had these individuals remained in school long enough to be tested, they would presumably have increased the percentage of students demonstrating less than basic achievement in writing.