National Assessment Of Educational Progress: Students Show Low Science Proficiency, Experts Call Scores 'Unacceptable'
About a third of eighth-graders who took a national science exam in 2011 were proficient, according to results released Thursday, a statistic called "unacceptable" by a teachers association leader.
Average scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress science test inched up two points from 150 in 2009 to 152 (out of 300) in 2011, the U.S. Department of Education's research arm reported, but experts are cautioning against calling it a victory.
"There is no cause for optimism," Gerry Wheeler, interim director of the National Science Teachers Associationwrote in a statement, because "the results show miniscule gains in student achievement." He lamented that "the majority of our eighth-grade level students still fall below the proficiency level," calling the scores "simply unacceptable."
Average scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress science test inched up two points from 150 in 2009 to 152 (out of 300) in 2011, the U.S. Department of Education's research arm reported, but experts are cautioning against calling it a victory.
"There is no cause for optimism," Gerry Wheeler, interim director of the National Science Teachers Associationwrote in a statement, because "the results show miniscule gains in student achievement." He lamented that "the majority of our eighth-grade level students still fall below the proficiency level," calling the scores "simply unacceptable."