Science Scores Slide
Posted on May 21st, 2021 by Mary Lord
The latest “nation’s report card” for science reveals a disturbing trend. After improving from 2009 to 2015, science scores held steady or fell – with across-the-board declines led by struggling students at the lowest achievement levels.
Filed under: K-12 Education News, Special Features | Comments Off on Science Scores Slide
Tags: Education Policy, NAEP, nation's report card, National Assessment of Educational Progress Science 2019, STEM education
Results from America’s first-ever test of K-12 technology and engineering literacy point to the power of hands-on, applied STEM learning – both in and outside of school – to increase diversity and achievement. The National Assessment of Educational Progress found that girls scored higher on average than boys. And while suburban and rural students outperformed their urban peers, the achievement gaps between race and income groups were much smaller than typically posted on national tests in other subjects.
The much-anticipated first draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) was released for public comment May 11, a day after a federal report showed slim gains in science proficiency among the nation’s 8th graders. The standards, which include engineering and design, represent a profound shift in what students will be expected to know and be able to do. Want to weigh in? You have until June 1.
How do top-scoring science students in New England stack up against their counterparts in the mid-Atlantic or South? Not very well, according to a new analysis of state science assessments by Change the Equation. That’s because states set the bar for proficiency at widely varying levels.
