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Science Top Story for Interactive and Hands-on Tasks: Students Able to Perform Simple Investigations, Challenged to Explain Conclusions

Connecting science knowledge and inquiry is an important part of science learning and assessment. To understand how students can put their science knowledge into practice, NAEP administered two types of innovative science assessments—hands-on tasks (HOTs) and interactive computer tasks (ICTs)—in addition to traditional pencil-and-paper-based assessments.

See an overview of the major findings

See interactive investigations of an example task at grades 4, 8, and 12

Dig Deeper into the Interactive Tasks

Each student who participated in the grade 4, 8, and 12 interactive computer task probes was asked to complete three problem-solving scenarios—one 40-minute task and two 20-minute tasks.

All nine interactive computer tasks are available online for your use. After completing the task, see the correct answers, scoring materials, and percentage correct data for each question.

See all of the tasks in the Complete Task Library.

 

Science Top Story for the Nation: New science framework guides 2009 assessment

The science assessment was updated for 2009 to keep the content current with key developments in science, curriculum standards, and research. When compared to the nation, average fourth-grade scores in 2009 were higher in 24 states/jurisdictions at grade 4 and higher in 25 states/jurisdictions at grade 8.

Summary of the major findings.

 

Dig Deeper into National Data

Investigate science performance in 2009 by examining the gender gap within the NAEP racial/ethnic groups.

Gender gap for all students

Overall, male students scored higher on average than female students at all three grades in the 2009 NAEP science assessment.

This overall gender gap pattern shows more variations when results are examined by race/ethnicity.

    Grade
At grade 4, the scale scores were 151 for males and 149 for females. At grade 8, the scale scores were 152 for males and 148 for females. At grade 12, the scale scores were 153 for males and 147 for females. At all three grades the scores for male students were significantly different from the score for female students.

Scale Score

Key:  Male   Female

* Score for male students significantly different ( p <.05) from score for female students. 

 

Gender gaps by race/ethnicity, grade 4

While overall scores for male fourth-graders were higher than for their female classmates, this gender gap was not evident within all racial/ethnic groups. White males outscored White females, but Black females scored higher than Black males. Other apparent differences between male and female students within racial/ethnic groups were not significantly different.

Race/ethnicity
At grade 4, the scale scores were 164 for White males and 162 for White females; 126 for Black males and 128 for Black females; 132 for Hispanic males and 130 for Hispanic females; 159 for Asian/Pacific Islander males and 160 for Asian/Pacific Islander females; and 135 for both male and female American Indian/Alaska Natives. The difference in scores between White male and female students and between Black male and female students were significant.

Scale Score

Key:  Male   Female

* Score for male students significantly different ( p <.05) from score for female students.
NOTE: A/PI = Asian/Pacific Islander. AI/AN = American Indian/Alaska Native. Black includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin. 

 

Gender gaps by race/ethnicity, grade 8

At grade 8, in 4 of the 5 racial/ethnic groups, male students scored higher than their female counterparts. There was no significant difference between the science scores for Black male and female students.

Race/ethnicity
At grade 8, the scale scores were 165 for White males and 160 for White females; 125 for Black males and 126 for Black females; 134 for Hispanic males and 130 for Hispanic females; 162 for Asian/Pacific Islander males and 158 for Asian/Pacific Islander females; and 141 for American Indian/Alaska Native males and 133 for American Indian/Alaska Native females. Except for American Indian/Alaska Natives, scores between males and females in each race/ethnicity were significantly different.

Scale Score

Key:  Male   Female

* Score for male students significantly different ( p <.05) from score for female students.
NOTE: A/PI = Asian/Pacific Islander. AI/AN = American Indian/Alaska Native. Black includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin. 

 

Gender gaps by race/ethnicity, grade 12

At grade 12, White and Hispanic males outscored their female counterparts, but other apparent differences between male and female students within
racial/ethnic groups were not significantly different.

Race/ethnicity
At grade 12, the scale scores were 162 for White males and 156 for White females; 126 for Black males and 123 for Black females; 138 for Hispanic males and 130 for Hispanic females; and 161 for Asian/Pacific Islander males and 166 for Asian/Pacific Islander females. Reporting standards were not met for male and female American Indian/Alaska natives. The differences in scores between White male and female students and between Hispanic male and female students were significant.

Scale Score

Key:  Male   Female

‡ Reporting standards not met.
* Score for male students significantly different ( p <.05) from score for female students.
NOTE: A/PI = Asian/Pacific Islander. AI/AN = American Indian/Alaska Native. Black includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin. 

 

Summary

The male-female gender gap in science was not evident across all racial/ethnic groups. White male students outscored their female peers at all three grade levels. Black females scored higher than their male counterparts at grade 4, but there were no significant differences in their scores at grades 8 and 12.  Hispanic male students outscored their female peers at grades 8 and 12, and male Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native students outscored their female peers at grade 8.

Race/Ethnicity Gender Gap
Race/Ethnicity Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 12
White Males scored higher than females. Males scored higher than females. Males scored higher than females.
Black Males scored lower than females. No significant difference between males and females. No significant difference between males and females.
Hispanic No significant difference between males and females. Males scored higher than females. Males scored higher than females.
Asian/Pacific Islander No significant difference between males and females. Males scored higher than females. No significant difference between males and females.
American Indian/Alaska Native No significant difference between males and females. Males scored higher than females. ‡
NOTE: Black includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin.

Key:

 Males scored higher than females.
 Males scored lower than females.
 No significant difference between males and females.
 ‡ Reporting standards not met.

 

 

Science Top Story for Urban Districts: Students in most participating districts scored lower than national average

Fourteen of the 17 participating districts scored lower than the nation at grade 4. In grade 8, the average science score was lower than the national average in 16 of the 17 participating districts. In comparison to the average scores for large cities in the nation, students in Austin, Charlotte, Jefferson County (Louisville, KY), and Miami-Dade had higher science scores at both grades.

Summary of the major findings.

 

Dig Deeper into Urban District Data

Some districts may perform below the average for large cities overall, but scores for some student groups in some districts were higher than their peers in large cities nationally. Explore the 2009 science results from the participating districts in comparison to large cities at grade 4 and grade 8.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2009 Science Assessment. 

 Watch Maintaining Water Systems. See highlights of students taking the task. Duration: 4.5 minutes. Watch this short video to learn about the importance of hands-on tasks (HOTs). "Maintaining Water Systems" was given to twelfth-graders and this video provides a guided tour of how students worked through the task. This video is 4.5 minutes.

Hide Science 2009 ICT section Explore the 2009 Interactive Computer and Hands-On Tasks Report

2009 Science Interactive Computer and Hands-On Tasks Report

 

© Echo/Cultura/Getty Images #106451788

show Science 2009 section Explore the Science 2009 Trial Urban District Report Card

show Science 2009 section Explore the Science 2009 Report Card for the Nation and States

View State and District Snapshots

NCES provides a customized summary report for each state, jurisdiction, or district that participates in the NAEP assessments.

Select a state/jurisdiction and grade to view a State Snapshot report.


Select an urban district and grade to view a District Snapshot report.


See 2009 Science Framework

The science framework serves as the blueprint for the assessment, describing the specific science knowledge and skills that should be assessed.

For more information, download the Science Framework for the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress.