From Ronna Bolante's article "Grading the Public Schools" in
*Honolulu* May
2008, Vol. XLII, No. 11, page 55 -

/snip/

For a more apples-to-apples comparison, consider Hawai'i students'
scores on
the National Assessment of Education Progress, better known as "The
Nation's
Report Card." This test, administered every other year in all 50
stateas,
has not been overhauled. The national test shows that Hawai'i's overall
scores have improved, but not nearly as dramatically as they have on the
state test. What's more, Hawai'i students' scores continue to trail
national averages, with just 21 percent of our eighth graders considered
proficient in math and 20 percent proficient in reading.