Dive Brief:

• The National Assessment of Educational Progress scores are out from the 2015 science test, revealing modest progress for fourth and eighth graders since 2009, when a new science framework reset the clock on trendlines, and no significant improvement among seniors, on average.
• While at the national level fourth and eighth grade scores were up four points, Arizona’s fourth grade scores were up 11 and Tennessee’s and Georgia’s were up 8 and among eighth graders, Utah, Tennessee and Nevada were all above the national average with 9-, 9-, and 7-point increases, respectively.
• Nationally, achievement gaps between black and white students and Latino and white students are slightly smaller among fourth and eighth graders since 2009 and the gender gap disappeared for fourth graders; the number of 12th graders taking science classes is also up.

Dive Insight:

NAEP has traditionally been known as the nation’s report card, offering a consistent check on achievement. The science assessment has been administered for decades, but the last assessment of fourth and 12th graders, in 2009, was the first with a new framework and it effectively eliminated the ability to make any accurate long-term comparisons. Eighth graders took a special assessment in 2011, providing one extra data point about their progress, but this year’s analysis is necessarily limited.

As with all standardized tests, there is reason to question how much they reveal about actual student learning and achievement. Responses to multiple choice questions can only say so much about how well-prepared students are for potential future careers in science industries. Still, NPR’s Ed team spoke with experts across the country and ultimately concluded some measure of progress is better than none.