Chapter 8: State Indicators

HOME

PDF

HELP

COMMENTS




Chapter 8:


Overview

Secondary Education

Higher Education

Workforce

Financial Research and Development Inputs

R&D Outputs

Science and Technology in the Economy



Data Tools

Feedback
	Tell us what you think about the new state indicators chapter

State Indicators

Print this chapter (2.34MB)

E-mail this page

Secondary Education

Select Indicator:

Quartiles | Findings | Description

Eighth grade science performance: 2000

Quartiles

Quartile groups for eighth grade science performance: 2000*

1st Quartile	2nd Quartile	3rd Quartile	4th Quartile	No data
(165 - 157)	(156 - 150)	(149 - 144)	(143 - 132)

Idaho	Connecticut	Arizona	Alabama	Alaska
Maine	Illinois	Georgia	Arkansas	Colorado
Massachusetts	Indiana	Maryland	California	Delaware
Minnesota	Kentucky	New York	Hawaii	District of Columbia
Montana	Michigan	North Carolina	Louisiana	Florida
Nebraska	Missouri	Oklahoma	Mississippi	Iowa
North Dakota	Oregon	Tennessee	Nevada	Kansas
Ohio	Rhode Island	Texas	New Mexico	New Hampshire
Vermont	Utah		South Carolina	New Jersey
Wyoming	Virginia			Pennsylvania
	West Virginia			South Dakota
				Washington
				Wisconsin

*States in alphabetical order, not data order. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress. See table 8-2.

Findings

Nationwide, eighth graders scored similarly in 1996 (148) and 2000 (149).
In 2000, the nationwide percentage of eighth grade students performing at or above the proficient level–identified by the National Assessment Governing Board as the level that all students should reach–was 32 percent.
All but seven of the participating states had averages in the basic achievement level, indicating partial mastery; none reached a proficient or superior average.

Description

Understanding fundamentals of science is important in modern society and a prerequisite to further study in science or engineering. This indicator measures the knowledge of a state's eighth grade public school students in science.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a federally authorized ongoing assessment of student achievement. States participate at their option; no data means the state did not participate. The assessment is based on the NAEP Science Framework, developed through a national consensus process. Questions cover three content areas-earth, physical, and life sciences-including students' conceptual understanding, scientific investigation, and practical reasoning.

The NAEP for science was administered in 1996 and 2000 to representative samples of 4th, 8th, and 12th graders. The 2000 sample comprised 9,443 8th graders from 385 public schools. Although the size of state samples may vary, they included about 2,500 students from 100 schools in each state.

Student performance is described in terms of average scores on a 0–300 scale and achievement levels: basic, proficient, and advanced.

The basic level (143–169) denotes partial mastery of the knowledge and skills fundamental for proficient work at the eighth grade level. The proficient level (170–207) represents solid academic performance. Students reaching this level are competent with challenging subject matter, including knowledge, application of such knowledge to real-world situations, and appropriate analytical skills. The advanced level (208– 300) signifies superior performance.