Hawai'i ranks among the bottom four states in eighth-grade writing skills, according to 2007 test results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress released yesterday.

Hawai'i also was in the bottom four in 2002 when the test was last administered.

State officials pointed out that, while still low in state rankings, Hawai'i students brought up their average score. Hawai'i's score of 144 was up six points since 2002.

"I am pretty pleased with the gains in scores, but yes, we are pretty near the bottom of the nation," said Robert Hillier, NAEP coordinator for the state Department of Education.

Hawai'i scored higher than Nevada, New Mexico and Mississippi on last year's test. In 2002, Hawai'i tied Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico as the lowest ranking states.

"Of the students entering high school in Hawai'i, 80 percent are writing below grade level," said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia, in a written statement. "They don't have the writing skills they need to succeed.

"With employers looking at the ability to write well as essential for any job candidate, our high schools need to do more to make sure students are adequately prepared for the 21st century workplace."

'NATION'S REPORT CARD'

The NAEP, known commonly as the "Nation's Report Card," is a battery of tests examined under the federal No Child Left Behind law, which mandates that all students be at grade level in core subject areas by the year 2014.

The 2007 NAEP writing test examined some 140,000 eighth-grade students at more than 7,640 schools nationwide.

On the writing test, students are given a variety of tasks such as writing a letter to the editor of a newspaper, offering advice to younger students, reporting to a school committee and writing a story based on a poem, cartoon or photograph.

Only about 20 percent of Hawai'i's eighth-grade students are "proficient" or "advanced" at writing, compared with 31 percent nationally, according to the results.

Proficient is described as having "solid academic performance and demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter."

About 61 percent demonstrated "basic" writing skills on the NAEP, compared with 57 percent nationally. Basic is described as having "partial mastery of grade-level knowledge and skills." At 19 percent, Hawai'i had the second highest number of students at the "below basic" writing level.

Proficient is mastery of complex subject matter, so it's grade level and above. Basic is more like grade level, Hillier said. "Basic is like a B and a C and proficient is like an A," he said.

RAISING STANDARDS

The test scores "underscore the importance of focusing on writing," said Kathryn Matayoshi, executive director of the Hawai'i Business Roundtable. "They are an indication that we are lacking in this area."

The Business Roundtable was a key supporter in creating new graduation standards that would increase the writing requirements for the class of 2013. The newly created "College and Career Ready Diploma" will include a half-credit in expository writing or an equivalent course.

Matayoshi said many employers say high school graduates are coming into the workforce with weak writing skills.

"Some employers are offering courses to help increase writing skills. They're putting resources into something employees should be getting in high school," Matayoshi said.

Matayoshi's concerns were echoed by national education leaders as well.

Petra Schatz, language arts educational specialist with the Department of Education, said various efforts are under way to increase writing achievement, including more teacher training and a push for cross-curriculum writing.

"Right now there are 1,200 teachers trained by the Hawaii Writing Project. They all report that it transforms their students' writing. Getting more teachers into that type of training is key," Schatz said.

Schatz also said there is an effort to integrate writing across the curriculum, from social studies, to science, to math, to English.

She also said the increased writing requirements in the DOE's new diploma will help.

"Knowing that our seniors have to be proficient in expository writing before they leave us, what are the steps that are going to get them there? And, of course, it starts in elementary school," she said.

GIRLS OUTSCORE BOYS

Hawai'i's average score lags behind most states and lags significantly behind the highest achieving states.

For instance, 56 percent of New Jersey eighth-graders were at the proficient or advanced level. New Jersey's average score was 175, the highest in the nation.

"That's just amazing," Hillier said.

NAEP also examines various socioeconomic factors, including gender, language and poverty.

In Hawai'i, girls outscored boys 155 to 134. That gap has been relatively unchanged since previous tests in 2002 and 1998.

The state also has a higher percentage of students considered English-language learners, although Hawai'i's second-language students did well, scoring at about the national average, Hillier said.

Hawai'i also has a fairly large poverty gap of 19 percent, Hillier noted.

About 41 percent of Hawai'i's eighth-graders qualify for free or reduced lunch, an indicator of poverty. Those students scored an average of 132 compared with the 151 scored by students who aren't eligible for the federal program.