An article in the New York Times summarizes the results from the latest round of NAEP testing. Two things stand out boldly in this piece: one is the emphasis on the test scores of low-income, underprivileged students being consistently lower in many cases, two is the several states that showed markedly better improvement.

While there was a link pointed out between demographics and test scores, most notably the top performing states having the lowest proportions of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, the article did clarify that they were not necessarily causational. There are places with higher proportions that improved their scores.

Each one of the programs that showed greater improvement than the national average mentioned in the article pointed to higher standards and changes in how teachers are evaluated as reasons for the raise. The article seems to point out the quantifiable difference that adherence to the Common Core makes in the performance of students across the board.