The Nation’s Report Card: Science 2009 Trial Urban District Assessment

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Complete report

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has just released the 2009 Science results for 17 urban districts and for large cities nationally in The Nation’s Report Card: Science 2009 TUDA. The 2009 NAEP Science TUDA assessed representative samples of between 900 and 2,200 fourth- and eighth-grade public school students in each of the 17 participating urban districts.

Student performance is reported in terms of average scale scores on the NAEP science scale and the percentages of students who attained the achievement levels set by the National Assessment Governing Board. District results are compared to results for public school students in the nation, large cities nationally, and their home states. Student performance is reported by race/ethnicity and eligibility for free/reduced-price school lunch.

At grade 4, the average score in large cities overall and the average scores in 14 of the 17 participating districts were lower than the average score for the nation. Scores for Austin, Charlotte, and Jefferson County were not significantly different from the score for the nation.

At grade 8, the average score in large cities overall and the average scores in 16 of the 17 districts were lower than the average score for the nation. The score for Austin was not significantly different from the score for the nation.

Among the 17 urban districts that participated in the 2009 science assessment, scores for both fourth- and eighth-graders in 4 districts were higher than the scores for their respective peers attending public schools in large cities overall. Scores for both grades in 8 districts were lower.

More notes:

• Four TUDA districts (Austin; Charlotte; Jefferson County, KY; and Miami-Dade) had higher scores at both grade 4 and grade 8 than large cities nationally. San Diego and Boston had higher scores at grade 4 only, and Houston had higher scores at grade 8 only.

• Eight TUDA districts had lower scores than large cities nationally at both grades.

• In Austin, Houston, and Miami-Dade, eighth-grade Hispanic students scored higher than their peers in the nation.

• At grade 4, both the White-Black and White-Hispanic achievement gaps were smaller in Boston , Cleveland, and Philadelphia than the gap in large cities nationally.

• Miami-Dade achieved a smaller White-Hispanic gap than the national White-Hispanic gap at both grade 4 and grade 8.

• Black students at grade 4 in Boston and Charlotte had higher scores than Black students nationally.

• Students at grade 4 who were eligible for the National School Lunch Program had higher scores in 7 of the 17 participating districts than eligible students in large cities nationally.

Many more results are available at http://nationsreportcard.gov.