More than 38,000 first-graders and more than 37,000 second-graders took the Iowa tests in math and literacy this spring. The Iowa tests are nationally standardized tests that compare the achievement of Arkansas students to a national sample of students who took the same tests. The 50h percentile is considered the national average.
Second-graders scored at the 50th percentile in vocabulary, the 54th percentile in language and in math and peaked at the 56th percentile in reading.
First-graders in the Natural State scored on average at the 47th percentile in vocabulary and language, the 50th percentile in math, and the 51st percentile in reading.
