The latest 12th grade National Assessment results (from 2009), released this morning, show small (but statistically significant) upticks over the past four years in both reading and math, both in “scale scores” and in the percentages of young people deemed “proficient.” In math, there’s been a slow but persistent rise, of which these new results are part. In reading, however, when you look back farther than 2005, you find scores essentially flat or slightly down.