Modest gains, but US students still lag in science learning

The Nation’s Report Card: 2015 Science assessment by the National Assessment Governing Board and the National Center for Education Statistics, shows Hawai’i’s fourth and eighth graders are making progress.

Nationally, results for fourth- and eighth-graders showed statistically significant gains, while 12th-grade scores stagnated.

NAEP measured students’ knowledge in the following areas: physical, life, Earth, and space sciences.

Thirty-three percent of Arkansas’ public school fourth-grade test-takers and 28 percent of eighth-graders a year ago scored at the proficient levels, indicating mastery of the grade-level subject matter.

Nationally, an achievement gap between male and female fourth grade science students has been erased.

The new results indicate that efforts to narrow the achievement gap between white and minority students are working, as well.

“The truth is we’re looking at a set of decisions about housing, employment – both unemployment and under-employment – incarceration and teacher expectations that make it hard for African-American students to succeed”, she said.

“Even though the gaps may be closing slightly, we’re still concerned that those gaps are there, and I think that’s going to be the focus of our work moving forward”, Staples said.

He says educators stress to students that pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering and math fields will lead to higher-paying and more secure jobs. “We have got to take action to close the achievement gap and eliminate what I believe is its root cause – the opportunity gap – for every student”.

Alabama’s students scored below the national average for both grades.

The post Modest gains, but USA students still lag in science learning appeared first on PBS NewsHour. Eighth grade girls score an average three-points less than boys, narrowing the gender split from prior assessment years. Thirty-one percent of S.C eighth-graders also performed at or above the proficient level, 8 points higher than in 2009, compared with 33 percent nationally.

When it comes to science education in Nebraska and Iowa, the test tube is half full, according to results of a national science test released Thursday.

In Maine, major education reforms have included adopting new Common Core standards in math and English, adopting new state assessments and shifting to a proficiency-based graduation model. That is true when you look at the NAEP Scale Score results.

U.S. Secretary of Education John King said in a press call Wednesday that the report shows critical thinking skills are improving in students all over the country.

And the nation’s 12th graders showed no improvement from 2009 to 2015. This percentage was significantly greater than that in 2009 (27 percent).

“The key to student performance is going to be the teachers and the leaders”, said Sigmund, who said the state’s charter schools outperformed public schools overall in the state and finished in eighth place nationally previous year.

In 2015, the average score of eighth-grade students in Georgia was 152.

“There is considerable overlap between what’s in the science framework for what we use in the NAEP assessment and the standards as they appear in the NGSS”, Bushaw said.