New scores on a national education assessment report show that, on average, Ohio students are ahead in science scores. StateImpact Ohio’s Michelle Faust reports the National Assessment of Educational Progress Science scores were released this week.
More fourth and eighth graders in Ohio are passing the standardized science test—41 percent and 38 percent respectively—compared to the national average.
Scores across the country improved on the science test, but Peggy Carr, the acting commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, says Ohio did not show the same trend.
“For Ohio—fourth and eighth grade—we’re seeing no significant improvement across any of the racial ethnic groups.”
On average, national achievement gaps narrowed with improved scores among black and Latino students. Ohio didn’t share those gains.
Ohio eighth-grade science scores declined among black and Latino students -- since 2011, a 9-point loss for Hispanic students, 5 points for blacks.
Following the national trend, the gap between boys and girls scores is fairly small: girls in the fourth grade made an average 1-point gain. In the same age group, boys' scores are 3 points higher than girls'.
