5 <p>Chicago fourth and eighth graders improved their math scores this year, according to scores from a national assessment program released yesterday.<br /><br />But Chicago Public Schools still lag behind other schools across the country on average.<br /><br />The results come from the National Assessment of Educational Program, which is referred to as the nation's report card.</p> <p>From 2003 until this year, the city's fourth graders improved their math schools&nbsp;by eight points. Eighth graders improved their scores by 10 points in the same time period. Their scores jumped four points between 2007 and this year, according to <a href="http://www.cps.edu/News/Press_releases/2009/Pages/12_8_2009_PR1.aspx" title="here">the news release</a>.</p> <p>The national assessment tested almost 163,000 fourth graders and about 156,000 eighth graders in school districts nationwide. The test was administered to 2,000 Chicago fourth graders and&nbsp;1,800&nbsp;eighth graders, according to the news release.<br /><br />Particularly notable were improvements among fourth-grade Hispanic students and eighth-grade students from lower income families, CPS says.&nbsp;<br /><br />On the national level, school districts improved their test scores by about the same margin as CPS. But CPS scores still lag, with Chicago students posting an average score of 222, compared to a national average of 228.</p> 2009-12-09T07:00:00-06:00 0 30863 1 79 1 Chicagostudentsimprovemathscores 1 CPS scores lag behind the national average on a standardized test, but the district's results are getting better. 6 200