Evans Middle School eighth-graders Tori Cates and Kristen Walker said they weren't surprised a national assessment released Wednesday shows Georgia fourth- and eighth-graders improved in math.

After all, the two say, new Georgia Performance Standards started three years ago have helped them improve their own math skills.

"It's definitely a bigger challenge," said Kristen, who said she now tackles math problems similar to those seen in an 11th-grade class.

"We'll be prepared (for high school), and it will be kind of easier," Tori said.

The Nation's Report Card, a U.S. Department of Education initiative run by the National Assessment Governing Board, this year sampled the math scores of more than 300,000 fourth- and eighth-graders from across the country to develop a snapshot of the nation's progress in math.

Fourth-grade math scores sampled in Georgia showed improvement by one point compared with 2007, for a total average score of 236. Eighth-graders scored 278 -- three points higher than in 2007, which is the last year the governing board assessed math progress. The National Assessment of Educational Progress is scored on a scale from 0 to 500.

The assessment, which didn't evaluate local district scores, was the first to test eighth-graders who have gone through the new Georgia Performance Standards.

Math teacher Deborah Blackmon -- who has taught at Evans Middle School since 2001, before the Georgia Performance Standards -- said she's seen student performance improve since the standards went into effect.

"I'm certain there's been a progression," she said, adding that real-life situations and writing have been incorporated into math instruction. She said math subjects that used to be reserved for high school are now being implemented in middle school.

"Even in sixth grade, we do a little of the algebra," she said. "So it's been a transition, and I think Columbia County has performed really well."

Richmond County schools spokesman Louis Svehla said the system has focused heavily on math instruction in recent years and has seen improvement. He said a key factor in Richmond County schools not making Adequate Yearly Progress under No Child Left Behind has been math scores.

Georgia schools Superintendent Kathy Cox credited a more rigorous math curriculum for improvements by eighth-graders on the Nation's Report Card.

"This is the first evidence we have that the GPS is helping our students be more competitive at the national level," Mrs. Cox said. "I am confident this is just the beginning of the gains our students will show on national tests as our curriculum takes hold."

Mrs. Cox said she expects the governing board to release a reading report card in coming months.

Though South Carolina pupils fell in their average math scores, they performed as well or better than Georgia pupils. South Carolina's fourth-graders dropped a point for a 236 total and eighth-graders dropped two points compared with 2007 for a 280 total.

Both states scored below the national average, which was 240 for fourth-graders and 283 for eighth-graders.

Aiken County administrators say though the Nation's Report Card is useful, it's not a test that offers enough feedback to assist instruction.

"That report contains interesting information -- but not a lot of specific information that we can use at the school level," said Kevin O'Gorman, the associate superintendent for instruction. "However, NAEP is one of the few assessments that does show a true picture of state-to-state achievement results."

Nationally, the NAEP reported Wednesday that there was no significant change in the scores of fourth-graders, but eighth-graders reached their highest level in nearly 20 years.