References

References

Kuhfeld, M., Soland, J., & Lewis, K. (2022). Test score patterns across three COVID-19-impacted school years. Educational Researcher, 51(7), 500–506. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X221109178

National Center for Education Statistics. (2025). The Nation's Report Card: 2024 NAEP mathematics and reading results (grades 4 and 8). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/

Kane, T. J., & Reardon, S. F. (with Fahle, E. M., & Staiger, D. O.). (2025). Education Recovery Scorecard: Pandemic recovery varies widely across school districts. Center for Education Policy Research, Harvard University; Educational Opportunity Project, Stanford University. https://educationrecoveryscorecard.org/

Data source

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), mean scale scores for mathematics and reading, grades 4 and 8, U.S. national public and Texas, 2015–2024. Retrieved August 18, 2026, from the NAEP Data Service API at https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/DataService/GetAdhocData.aspx

Appendices

The analysis code, the assembled dataset, and the original weekly assignment documents are available in the project's GitHub repository and in the course vault. The centerpiece and supporting charts were generated with Python (pandas + matplotlib).

About this project

This portfolio is the final project for STEM-5328 (Data Science for Educators) at UTEP. It compiles and polishes the dataset evaluation, exploratory analysis, responsible-claims, comparison, visualization, and evidence-triangulation work completed across the course — organized around a single descriptive research question.