How well do U.S. students understand and use key science concepts? The latest National Assessment for Educational Progress reveals a disturbing trend.

After improving between 2009 and 2015, science scores for America’s fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders either remained flat or fell in 2019—with the declines driven by students in the lowest performance levels. The drop, which echoes the results of the 2019 “nation’s report card” for reading and math, affected nearly every demographic and socioeconomic group. It was particularly acute for fourth graders in the bottom 10 percentile, who saw science scores slide down 5 points from 2015.

Peggy Carr, associate commissioner of assessment division at the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the NAEP, called the pattern “concerning.” While cautioning against using NAEP scores to “establish a cause and effect,” she noted that high school students who reported having taken physics, chemistry, and biology were more likely to score at the advanced level than those with only a biology course.

The 2019 NAEP Science assessment, which included interactive computer tasks and hybrid hands-on investigations, tested students’ ability to identify and apply key concepts in physical science, life science, and earth and space science. For example, a high school question involved analyzing materials to determine which would best make a sturdy, lightweight bicycle frame. It was taken by a representative sample of more than 30,000 students at each grade level in thousands of schools nationwide.

Explore the 2019 RESULTS. See 2019 STATE PROFILES.

Some observers view the growing gap between high and low achievers as a wakeup call for schools to stop squeezing the time devoted to science instruction. Beth Allan, president of the National Science Teachers Association, noted that elementary teachers spend twice as much time on reading as on science and social studies combined and thought schools should “mandate” a minimum amount of time for science learning. Cary Sneider, a science education expert and visiting scholar at Portland State University, underscored the challenge for teachers of struggling students, who are “being told to focus on the basics” of reading and math, while Christine Cunningham, former director of the Museum of Science, Boston’s Engineering is Elementary program and now a professor of practice in engineering education at Pennsylvania State University, would like to see hands-on activities and investigations integrated into daily instruction. She also sees a role for state education departments and Congress.

Not all was doom and gloom, however. Despite plateauing or drifting downward from 2015, the 2019 NAEP Science scores were still significantly improved over 2009, the first year the assessment was administered. Fourth grade achievement, for instance, rose across all demographic groups and for low-income students. And girls closed the achievement gap with boys.

Filed under: K-12 Education News, Special Features

Tags: Education Policy, NAEP, nation's report card, National Assessment of Educational Progress Science 2019, STEM education