Lowest Performing Students Make the Largest Gains at Grade 4, Percentile Scores for the Highest and Lowest Performing Students Drop at Grade 12

• At grade 4, students performing at the lowest level (10th percentile) made the largest gains, up 10 points since 2000. Scores were also higher in 2005 than in 2000 and 1996 for students at the 25th and 50th percentiles.
• At grade 8, the science score at the 75th percentile in 2005 was lower than in 2000, but was not significantly different from the score in 1996.
• At grade 12, all but the 50th percentile showed a significant decrease between 1996 and 2005.