Nation's Report Card Home

Summary of Major Findings

 

Fewer than one-half of students perform at or above the Proficient level in science at all three grades

Students throughout the nation in grades 4, 8, and 12 participated in the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in science. The assessment was updated in 2009 to keep the content current with key developments in science, curriculum standards, and research. To establish the baseline for future science assessments, the overall average score for each grade was set at 150 on a 0 to 300 scale.

  • Thirty-four percent of fourth-graders, 30 percent of eighth-graders, and 21 percent of twelfth-graders performed at or above the Proficient level.
  • Seventy-two percent of fourth-graders, 63 percent of eighth-graders, and 60 percent of twelfth-graders performed at or above the Basic level.
  • One percent of fourth-graders, 2 percent of eighth-graders, and 1 percent of twelfth-graders performed at the Advanced level.
  • Scores were higher than the nation in 24 states/jurisdictions at fourth-grade and 25 states/jurisdictions at eighth-grade.
  • At grade 12, there was no significant difference in scores for White and Asian/Pacific Islander students, and both groups scored higher on average than other racial/ethnic groups.

 

Explore more national and state results.

At each grade, students responded to questions designed to measure their knowledge and abilities in physical science, life science, and Earth and space sciences. Because of the changes to the assessment, results from 2009 cannot be compared to those from previous assessment years. Read about the new science framework and what the assessment measures.

For more information, browse the report online or download a copy of the report.

Grade 4

Compared to the nation, average fourth-grade science scores were

green squarehigher in 24 states/jurisdictions,
blue squarelower in 10 states, and
orange squarenot significantly different in 13 states.

white squareState/jurisdiction did not meet participation guidelines for reporting.

Scores higher than the nation: CO, CT, DE, DoDEA, IA, ID, IN, KY, MA, ME, MN, MO, MT, ND, NH, NJ, OH, OR, PA, SD, UT, VA, WI, WY. Scores lower than the nation: AL, AR, AZ, CA, GA, HI, LA, MS, NM, NV. Scores not significantly different than the nation: FL, IL, MD, MI, NC, NY, OK, SC, TN, TX, WA, WV. States that did not participate: AK, DC, KS, NE, VT.
1 Department of Defense Education Activity (overseas and domestic schools). 

 

Grade 8

Compared to the nation, average eighth-grade science scores were

green squarehigher in 25 states/jurisdictions,
blue squarelower in 15 states, and
orange squarenot significantly different in 7 states.

white squareState/jurisdiction did not meet participation guidelines for reporting.Scores higher than the nation: CO,CT, DoDEA, IA, ID, IN, KY, MA, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT,ND, NH, NJ, OH,OR, PA, SD, UT, VA, WA, WI, WY. Scores lower than the nation: AL,AR, AZ, CA, FL, HI, LA, MS, NC, NM, NV, OK, RI, SC, WV. Scores not significantly different than the nation: DE,GA, IL, MD, NY, TN, TX. States that did not participate: AK, DC, KS, NE, VT.

1 Department of Defense Education Activity (overseas and domestic schools).