Wis. scores high in science, but shows ethnic gaps

Wisconsin's snapshot of results from the younger grades revealed:

•An average score of 157 for both fourth and eighth grades, eight points higher than the national average of 149 for both grades.

•In fourth grade, black students in Wisconsin had an average score that was 43 points lower than white students in the state. By eighth grade, that performance gap widened to a 44-point difference.

•Hispanic fourth-graders in Wisconsin scored 26 points lower than their white peers in the state, better than the national average of a 32-point difference. But, by eighth grade, the performance gap of 30 points between the state's white and Hispanic students was about the same as the national average.

•Some subgroups of students in Wisconsin outscored their peers nationally. English-language learners, impoverished students and students with disabilities scored higher than the national average in both fourth and eighth grades.


[link to www.jsonline.com]

Majority of U.S. Students Lack Proficiency in Science, National Test Shows


Fewer than half of U.S. students are proficient in science, renewing questions about the country’s global competitiveness, the Education Department said today.

A third of the nation’s fourth-graders, 30 percent of eighth-graders and 21 percent of 12th-graders are performing at or above the proficient level in science, according to the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Known as the Nation’s Report Card, the government considers the test the most influential view of U.S. educational achievement.

The results were unveiled ahead of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address tonight, which is expected to focus on the theme of competitiveness and include concerns that the nation’s educational achievement lags behind students globally. U.S. 15-year-olds ranked 25th among peers from 34 countries on a math test and scored in the middle in science and reading, while China’s Shanghai topped the charts on an international assessment released Dec. 7.






“Low-income and minority students are now the majority in America’s public schools. Regaining our global edge demands that we dramatically boost their skills and knowledge and eliminate - once and for all - the achievement gap,” Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, a Washington-based nonprofit advocacy and research group, said in a statement.

[link to www.bloomberg.com]

What the 'Nation's Report Card' Means for Science Education
By David Nagel01/25/11
The latest science results from the "Nation's Report Card" have set a new baseline for student science achievement in the United States, and that baseline is low--"unacceptable," according to Francis Eberle, executive director for the National Science Teacher's Association (NSTA).

Just 60 percent of students in grade 12 and 63 percent in grade 8 achieved scores that placed them at "basic" proficiency or better. And when broken down by demographics, economically disadvantaged groups and historically underrepresented ethnic groups fared even worse. Among the findings:

■At grade 8, a third of of black students (33 percent) and less than half of Hispanic (43 percent) and American Indian/Alaska Native students (48 percent) demonstrated at least basic proficiency in science;
■At grade 12, just 29 percent of black students achieved basic proficiency or better, compared with 73 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander students and 72 percent of white students; and
■Among the economically disadvantaged in grade 8, just 41 percent of students who qualified for free lunches made it to basic proficiency or better.
In addition, at each grade level, girls scored lower than their male counterparts, with the gap in average scale scores widening at each grade level measured in the assessment: two points at grade 4, four points at grade 8, and six points at grade 12. (Additional details about the results can be found in our separate report here.)

The NSTA today referred to these results as "completely unacceptable" and issued a call to bolster resources for science education to avoid producing a "scientifically illiterate workforce."

[link to thejournal.com]

Mass. fourth-graders tie for first in national science test


Massachusetts fourth-graders tied for first place in science, and eighth-graders tied for second on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, exam, Governor Deval Patrick announced today.

The exam assessed random samples of fourth- and eighth-grade students across the country. Possible scores ranged from 0 to 300. The national average for both grades was 149 – and both fourth- and eighth-graders in Massachusetts averaged a score of 160.

State officials pointed out there is a gap between the scores of white and Asian students, on the one hand, and black and Hispanic students on the other, on both the fourth- and eighth-grade tests. A performance gap is also present between disabled and non-disabled students, and English language-learners in both grades are scoring lower than their counterparts.

Massachusetts fourth-graders tied with New Hampshire, Virginia, North Dakota, Kentucky, Montana, Maine, Minnesota, Ohio and Iowa. Eighth-graders were bested by North Dakota, but matched Montana, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Wyoming, Maine, Ohio, Utah, Idaho, and Wisconsin.

[link to www.boston.com]