NAEP Science Scores Essentially Flat Except at 4th Grade Level

Washington

At a time when educators, elected officials, and corporate leaders are fretting over American students’ weak science skills, new test results show that the nation’s middle schoolers made no progress in that subject over the past five years, and that high school performance actually fell over the past decade.

Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, released today, may generate more optimism about children’s abilities at the elementary level, where scores climbed from 2000, the previous time the science test was administered.

The new scores from NAEP, a heavily scrutinized test known as “the nation’s report card,” are likely to draw broad scrutiny, as a multitude of public officials, including President Bush and congressional leaders, have recently joined business leaders in identifying improved math and science education as a key to the...