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-------- ACHIEVEMENT INDICATORS -------- International Achievement in Mathematics and Science Reading Achievement Mathematics Achievement -------- OTHER INDICATORS -------- Dropout Rates Public School Revenues and Expenditures School Crime and Safety High School Transcripts, 2005 Bachelor's Degree Recipients, 10 Years Later -------- PAST INDICATORS -------- Dropout Rates, 2005 International Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Science and Mathematics Literacy Public School Revenues and Expenditures Mathematics Achievement Reading Achievement Dropout Rates Computer and Internet Use High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) Students Food and Exercise in Elementary Schools Trends in Adult Literacy First Generation Students in Postsecondary Education Mathematics Achievement Reading Achievement The High School Senior Class of 2004 Trends in Academic Progress Dropout Rates 2002 Dual Credit in U.S. Public High Schools Gender Differences in Postsecondary Education School Crime and Safety, 2002 International Comparisons in Science and Math Trends in Education Equity of Girls and Women Full-day and Half-day Kindergarten Reading Achievement Mathematics Achievement Dropout Rate 2001 Trends in Academic Progress International Comparisons in Reading Literacy Postsecondary Enrollment of Language Minorities Volunteer Service Civics Achievement Geography Achievement History Achievement Science Achievement Writing Achievement The High School Transcript Study Postsecondary Remedial Education Student Victimization Out-of-Field Teaching Postsecondary Attainment School Crime and Safety, 2001 Internet Access

Geography Achievement

In 2001, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) conducted a geography assessment of the nation’s fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade students. In the figures below, results in 2001 are compared to results of the 1994 NAEP geography assessment, which was the preceding NAEP geography assessment and the only other geography assessment conducted under the current framework. Students’ performance on the assessment is described in terms of average scores on a 0–500 scale.

Average Scale Score Results

The results of the 2001 geography assessment show higher average scores than the results in 1994 at grades 4 and 8, and no statistically significant change at grade 12. As seen in figure 1, the average score of fourth-graders rose from 206 to 209, and the average score of eighth-graders rose from 260 to 262.

Figure 1. Average geography scale scores, grades 4, 8, and 12: 1994 and 2001

Significantly different from 1994.

SOURCE: Figure 2.1 in U.S. Department of Education. Office of Educational Research and Improvement. National Center for Education Statistics. The Nation’s Report Card: Geography 2001, NCES 2002-484, by A. R.Weiss, A. D. Lutkus, B. S. Hildebrant, & M. S. Johnson. Washington, DC: 2002.

View Table 1.

Scale Scores by Percentile

The percentile indicates the percentage of students whose scores fell below a particular point on the NAEP geography scale. Percentile scores show how students with lower or higher ability performed compared to the national average. In addition, the percentile data show whether trends in the national average scores are reflected in scores at other levels of the performance distribution. At grades 4 and 8, scores at the two lowest percentiles (10th and 25th) were higher in 2001 than in 1994, suggesting that much of the improvement seen at grades 4 and 8 was concentrated among the lower-performing students (figure 2). Other apparent changes at these two grades were not statistically significant. At grade 12, consistent with national average score results, none of the apparent differences in percentile scores was statistically significant.

Figure 2. Geography scale score percentiles, grades 4,8, and 12: 1994 and 2001

Significantly different from 1994.

SOURCE: Figure 2.2 in U.S. Department of Education. Office of Educational Research and Improvement. National Center for Education Statistics. The Nation’s Report Card: Geography 2001, NCES 2002-484, by A. R.Weiss, A. D. Lutkus, B. S. Hildebrant, & M. S. Johnson. Washington, DC: 2002.

View Table 2.

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