|
Talking About The Nation's Report Card: Science
2000 Results
 |
Hello, and welcome to today's
StatChat on the NAEP science results for the nation and states. I
hope you've had time to look at the results on the website. I'm
sure that you have many questions regarding today's release, so
let's get right to them... |
| Wilma from Middletown, CT asked: |
| How well did children
of color (African-American and Latino) do on the 2000 science
assessment in comparison to 1996. What were the areas of weakness
and strengths? |
| Peggy Carr: |
Hi Wilma: At grades 4, 8, and 12, there
were no significant changes for African-American and Hispanic
students. However, both subgroups scored lower than white or Asian
students. A number of contextual variables are available on the
online data analysis tool. Peggy |
| Bob from Kalispell, MT asked: |
| Was the test given to
any faculty or administration? Science classes were much more
interesting before OSHA and safety fanatics who didn't know science
got into the act. |
| Peggy Carr: |
Hi Bob: No. The assessment was not
administered to adults. However, background data were collected from
teachers and principals..see the NAEP Science website.
Peggy |
| Joe from Topeka asked: |
| How do the NAEP scores
compare to international assessments of science?
|
| Peggy Carr: |
Joe: Although no direct comparisons are
possible, the results are similar in that older students did not do
as well as younger students. Peggy |
| Larry Chisesi from Fort Collins, Colorado
asked: |
| How closely matched
were the 2000 test takers from prior years test takers. Which states
were in the last assessment that are not in this assesment, and
which were in this assessment that weren't in the last assessment.
Finally, for 12th graders, is the drop in scores within the margin
of error? |
| Peggy Carr: |
Larry: The cohorts of students in both
assessments are statistically comparable. Consult page 5 of the
Highlights report for a map of participating states. The 12th grade drop is statistically
significant. Peggy |
| Larry Chisesi from Fort Collins, CO
asked: |
| It looks like for 12th
graders, in 2000, almost twice as many took the test as in 1996,
and, the margins of error are reported to be about the same. I find
that hard to believe. |
| Peggy Carr: |
Larry: In 2000, NAEP targeted
additional private school students to improve the precision of the
estimates. This explains the higher number of students in the
sample, but it did not affect the precision of public school
estimates. Peggy |
| Lane Peeler from Columbia, SC asked: |
| I notice that some NAEP
2000 science items are being released. I have been told that this
will not be true for NAEP 2000 mathematics. Have there been any
changes to that position? It would be nice to have exemplar items
from both science and mathematics. Teachers like to see
items! |
| Peggy Carr: |
Lane: No, there has been no change in
the position. However, please note that there are hundreds of
released math items already on the web in our NAEP Questions Tool. These items are
psychometrically equivalent. Peggy |
| Beatrice from Spokane, Washington asked: |
| I see that there is no
information for the state of Washington. How can parents judge the
performance of their state if there is no data. Who do I need to
talk to to get Washington involved? |
| Peggy Carr: |
Beatrice: Although Washington was not
represented in this assessment, they did initially sign the
participation agreement. They simply could not get schools to agree.
The NAEP state coordinator Washington is Bob Silverman at the
Washington Department of Education. Peggy |
| Clarence from augusta, georgia asked: |
| Is the South really as
bad as it is being portrayed? It looks as if all of the
underperforming states are southern states. |
| Peggy Carr: |
Clarence: The maps on pages 4 and 5 of
the Highlights report show how the states did relative to the
nation. Please note that there are exceptions to your observations.
Ky, for example performed above the national average in grade 4, and
at the national average in grade 8...it also improved their
performance in the 8th grade since 1996. There are other examples
such as Va. Peggy |
| Theodor from Kodiak, AK asked: |
| A map on the NAEP web
site shows that the average scale score in southern states is lower
than the national average whereas northern states scored higher than
the national average. To what do you attribute this
discrepancy? |
| Peggy Carr: |
Theodor: On average you are right, but
this pattern is not true of all southern states. The NAEP website
has numerous contextual variables that you can explore.
Peggy |
| Larry Chisesi from Fort Collins, CO
asked: |
| So private school 12th
graders don't know science??!! |
| Peggy Carr: |
Larry: Private school 12th graders do
better than public school students. In addition, the scores of
Catholic schools students improved since 1996.
Peggy |
| George from Pensacola, Florida asked: |
| It appears there is a
huge discrepancy in scores between schools that have free lunch
eligible students and those that don't. Is this another example of
them that have get and them that don't don't? |
| Peggy Carr: |
George: There are schools in the sample
with high percentages of students eligible for free or reduced price
lunches that do well on NAEP, such as the Department of Defense
schools. Peggy |
| Edward from Cupertino, CA asked: |
| Have the results been
normalized for demographic changes? Are California's horrid results
in any way caused by differences in English proficiency,
immigration, and culture? Our local schools are excellent but our
population is largely Asian and I understand that tends to raise the
curve in math and science. |
| Peggy Carr: |
Ed: The results have not been normalized
for demographic changes. Our governing board requires that we not
make these adjustments. Secondary analysts have made such
adjustments. Send us an e-mail for the specific references of those
studies. Use the "NAEP Staff" button down below. Peggy
|
| George from Pensacola, Florida asked: |
| How can you compare
DODDS schools to state scores. Are you saying that DODDS schools are
similar and can be statistically compared to schools in
states? |
| Peggy Carr: |
George: Yes. We have international and
domestic schools as separate jurisdictions. They both are
representative samples and they both do well.
Peggy |
| Nick from Washington, D.C. asked: |
| The average scores for
4th-, 8th-, and 12th graders are essentially the same. Is this to be
expected since questions will increase in difficulty at the same
rate as students' science knowledge? |
| Peggy Carr: |
Nick: The NAEP scales range from 0-300
for each grade. They are not comparable from grade to grade (they
are within grade scales). Peggy |
| Frederick from Jackson, Mississippi
asked: |
| Internet use at home
seems to make a huge difference. 13 points higher in 4th grade, 19
points in 8th grade and 17 in 12th grade. How can we use this
information to help kids in school that don't have access to
computers at home? |
| Peggy Carr: |
Hi Fred: The internet use at home is
likely to be a surrogate for SES. However, the items regarding the
specific types of computer use at school gives us clues regarding
what is associated with higher performance. See pages 11 and 12 of
the Highlights report. Peggy |
| Lane from Columbia, SC asked: |
| Where do we stand on
the decision as to whether NAEP will be a part of President Bush's
plan for assessing students on a yearly basis?
Thanks. |
| Peggy Carr: |
Lane: This is the last question I have
time for today. As for NAEP's role, the ESEA is still in conference.
Peggy |
| Thanks for all the
excellent questions. Unfortunately, I could not get to all of them,
but please feel free to contact members of the NAEP
staff, if you need further assistance. I hope that you found
this session to be helpful and the reports to be
interesting |
|
What's New?