The latest NAEP reading results came out a couple of weeks ago, with good results for NYC – check out the chart below and you can see nice gains for NYC's 4^th and 8^th graders from 2007 to 2009 vs. flat for the nation – evidence that Bloomberg and Klein's reforms are starting to kick in and that the supertanker that is NYC is finally starting to turn:

New York City's fourth graders are doing significantly better in reading since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took control of the schools, but eighth graders have shown little improvement, according to the results of a national reading test released on Thursday.

The data, part of the benchmark test known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, show that New York City fourth graders have made progress in closing the gap between their scores and the state and national results in reading, despite the higher percentages of poor and minority students in the city. In particular, scores rose among low-achieving city students from 2007 to 2009.

The test, known as the NAEP, is administered to groups of students randomly chosen throughout the country every two years. It is seen by experts as an important way to compare student performance across states, which have their own standards and definitions of proficiency.

Over all, the city, state and nation continue to do poorly. Nationally, only 31 percent of fourth- grade public school students are at or above the "proficient" level in reading, a standard defined by the test as "competency over challenging subject matter." Sixty-five percent are at or above the "basic" level, with partial mastery of knowledge and skills that are considered fundamental.

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On Reading Test, Mixed Results Under Bloomberg

By SHARON OTTERMAN

Published: May 20, 2010

www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/education/21scores.html