- Surveys & Programs
- Data & Tools
- Fast Facts
- News & Events
- Publications & Products
- About Us
 |
| 2011 Tables and Figures | All Years of Tables and Figures | Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest |
 Previous Page |
Download Excel  (56KB) |
| Table 150. | Average science scale score, standard deviation, and percentage of students attaining science achievement levels, by grade level, selected student and school characteristics, and percentile: 2009 |
| Selected characteristic, percentile, and achievement level | Grade 4 | Grade 8 | Grade 12 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total, all students | Male | Female | Total, all students | Male | Female | Total, all students | Male | Female | ||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |||||||||
| Average science scale score1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| All students | 150 | (0.3) | 151 | (0.3) | 149 | (0.3) | 150 | (0.3) | 152 | (0.4) | 148 | (0.3) | 150 | (0.8) | 153 | (0.9) | 147 | (0.9) |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||||||||||||||
| White | 163 | (0.2) | 164 | (0.3) | 162 | (0.3) | 162 | (0.2) | 164 | (0.3) | 160 | (0.3) | 159 | (0.7) | 162 | (0.9) | 156 | (0.8) |
| Black | 127 | (0.4) | 126 | (0.6) | 128 | (0.5) | 126 | (0.4) | 125 | (0.6) | 126 | (0.5) | 125 | (1.2) | 127 | (1.6) | 123 | (1.5) |
| Hispanic | 131 | (0.5) | 132 | (0.7) | 130 | (0.6) | 132 | (0.6) | 134 | (0.8) | 130 | (0.7) | 134 | (1.3) | 138 | (2.3) | 130 | (1.5) |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 160 | (1.2) | 159 | (1.4) | 160 | (1.4) | 160 | (1.0) | 162 | (1.3) | 158 | (1.3) | 164 | (3.0) | 161 | (2.9) | 166 | (3.8) |
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 135 | (1.3) | 135 | (1.5) | 135 | (1.8) | 137 | (1.4) | 141 | (1.8) | 133 | (2.0) | 144 | (3.7) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) |
| Parents' highest level of education | ||||||||||||||||||
| Did not finish high school | — | (†) | — | (†) | — | (†) | 131 | (0.6) | 135 | (1.0) | 128 | (0.7) | 131 | (1.4) | 136 | (1.9) | 128 | (1.8) |
| Graduated high school | — | (†) | — | (†) | — | (†) | 139 | (0.4) | 141 | (0.6) | 137 | (0.5) | 138 | (1.2) | 140 | (1.5) | 136 | (1.4) |
| Some education after high school | — | (†) | — | (†) | — | (†) | 152 | (0.4) | 154 | (0.5) | 150 | (0.4) | 147 | (0.9) | 150 | (1.3) | 144 | (1.1) |
| Graduated college | — | (†) | — | (†) | — | (†) | 161 | (0.4) | 162 | (0.5) | 159 | (0.3) | 161 | (0.7) | 163 | (0.9) | 159 | (1.0) |
| Eligibility for free or reduced-price | ||||||||||||||||||
| lunch | ||||||||||||||||||
| Eligible | 134 | (0.3) | 134 | (0.4) | 133 | (0.3) | 133 | (0.4) | 135 | (0.5) | 131 | (0.4) | 132 | (1.0) | 135 | (1.1) | 130 | (1.1) |
| Not eligible | 163 | (0.3) | 164 | (0.3) | 163 | (0.3) | 161 | (0.3) | 163 | (0.4) | 159 | (0.4) | 157 | (0.9) | 159 | (1.1) | 154 | (1.0) |
| Unknown | 162 | (1.3) | 163 | (1.7) | 161 | (1.3) | 164 | (1.2) | 167 | (1.4) | 161 | (1.2) | 156 | (2.7) | 156 | (3.6) | 156 | (3.0) |
| School type | ||||||||||||||||||
| Public | 149 | (0.3) | 149 | (0.3) | 148 | (0.3) | 149 | (0.3) | 151 | (0.4) | 147 | (0.3) | — | (†) | — | (†) | — | (†) |
| Private | 163 | (0.9) | 165 | (1.2) | 162 | (1.0) | 164 | (0.9) | 167 | (1.2) | 161 | (1.0) | — | (†) | — | (†) | — | (†) |
| School location | ||||||||||||||||||
| City | 142 | (0.6) | 142 | (0.6) | 142 | (0.7) | 142 | (0.6) | 144 | (0.7) | 141 | (0.7) | 146 | (1.8) | 148 | (1.6) | 144 | (2.2) |
| Suburban | 154 | (0.4) | 154 | (0.6) | 153 | (0.4) | 154 | (0.5) | 155 | (0.6) | 152 | (0.5) | 154 | (1.4) | 157 | (1.8) | 150 | (1.5) |
| Town | 150 | (0.6) | 151 | (0.8) | 149 | (0.6) | 149 | (1.0) | 152 | (1.1) | 147 | (0.9) | 150 | (1.2) | 153 | (1.5) | 146 | (1.6) |
| Rural | 155 | (0.5) | 156 | (0.7) | 154 | (0.5) | 154 | (0.4) | 156 | (0.5) | 152 | (0.5) | 150 | (1.2) | 153 | (1.5) | 146 | (1.4) |
| Science courses taken by 12th-graders | ||||||||||||||||||
| Biology, chemistry, and physics | † | (†) | † | (†) | † | (†) | † | (†) | † | (†) | † | (†) | 166 | (1.0) | 169 | (1.0) | 163 | (1.4) |
| Biology and chemistry | † | (†) | † | (†) | † | (†) | † | (†) | † | (†) | † | (†) | 148 | (0.9) | 151 | (1.4) | 147 | (1.0) |
| Biology only or other | † | (†) | † | (†) | † | (†) | † | (†) | † | (†) | † | (†) | 133 | (0.9) | 136 | (1.1) | 128 | (1.2) |
| Percentile2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 10th | 104 | (0.6) | 103 | (0.6) | 104 | (0.5) | 103 | (0.6) | 103 | (0.7) | 103 | (0.6) | 104 | (1.2) | 106 | (1.8) | 103 | (1.1) |
| 25th | 128 | (0.4) | 128 | (0.5) | 128 | (0.4) | 128 | (0.4) | 130 | (0.5) | 127 | (0.5) | 126 | (0.8) | 128 | (1.0) | 125 | (1.5) |
| 50th | 153 | (0.3) | 154 | (0.4) | 152 | (0.4) | 153 | (0.3) | 156 | (0.4) | 151 | (0.3) | 151 | (1.1) | 154 | (1.4) | 148 | (1.1) |
| 75th | 175 | (0.3) | 176 | (0.3) | 174 | (0.4) | 175 | (0.2) | 178 | (0.4) | 172 | (0.2) | 174 | (1.0) | 178 | (1.2) | 171 | (1.1) |
| 90th | 192 | (0.3) | 194 | (0.4) | 191 | (0.5) | 192 | (0.3) | 195 | (0.2) | 188 | (0.4) | 194 | (1.0) | 198 | (0.9) | 190 | (1.4) |
| Standard deviation of the science scale score3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| All students | 35 | (0.2) | 36 | (0.2) | 34 | (0.2) | 35 | (0.2) | 36 | (0.2) | 34 | (0.2) | 35 | (0.4) | 36 | (0.5) | 34 | (0.5) |
| Percent of students attaining science achievement levels | ||||||||||||||||||
| Achievement level | ||||||||||||||||||
| Below Basic | 28 | (0.3) | 27 | (0.4) | 28 | (0.3) | 37 | (0.4) | 35 | (0.5) | 38 | (0.4) | 40 | (1.0) | 37 | (1.1) | 42 | (1.3) |
| At or above Basic4 | 72 | (0.3) | 73 | (0.4) | 72 | (0.3) | 63 | (0.4) | 65 | (0.5) | 62 | (0.4) | 60 | (1.0) | 63 | (1.1) | 58 | (1.3) |
| At or above Proficient5 | 34 | (0.3) | 35 | (0.3) | 32 | (0.3) | 30 | (0.3) | 34 | (0.4) | 27 | (0.3) | 21 | (0.8) | 24 | (1.0) | 18 | (0.8) |
| At Advanced6 | 1 | (0.1) | 1 | (0.1) | 1 | (0.1) | 2 | (0.1) | 2 | (0.1) | 1 | (0.1) | 1 | (0.2) | 2 | (0.3) | 1 | (0.2) |
| —Not available. | ||||||||||||||||||
| †Not applicable. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ‡Reporting standards not met (too few cases). | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 Scale ranges from 0 to 300 for all three grades, but scores cannot be compared across grades. For example, the average score of 163 for White 4th-graders does not denote higher performance than the score of 159 for White 12th-graders. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 The percentile represents a specific point on the percentage distribution of all students ranked by their science score from low to high. For example, 10 percent of students scored at or below the 10th percentile score, while 90 percent of students scored above it. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 The standard deviation provides an indication of how much the test scores varied. The lower the standard deviation, the closer the scores were clustered around the average score. About two-thirds of the student scores can be expected to fall within the range of one standard deviation above and one standard deviation below the average score. For example, the average score for all 4th-graders was 150, and the standard deviation was 35. This means that we would expect about two-thirds of the students to have scores between 185 (one standard deviation above the average) and 115 (one standard deviation below). Standard errors also must be taken into account when making comparisons of these ranges. For a discussion of standard errors, see Appendix A: Guide to Sources. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 Basic denotes partial mastery of the knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 Proficient represents solid academic performance. Students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 Advanced signifies superior performance. | ||||||||||||||||||
| NOTE: Includes students tested with accommodations (7 to 11 percent of all students, depending on grade level); excludes only those students with disabilities and English language learners who were unable to be tested even with accommodations (2 to 3 percent of all students). Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Standard errors appear in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||
| SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2009 Science Assessment, retrieved May 25, 2011, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared May 2011.) |
