Hispanic students had higher NAEP science scores in 1999 than in 1977. Nonetheless, gaps between Hispanic and White students' NAEP scores remain.

At ages 9, 13, and 17, Hispanic students had higher NAEP science scores in 1999 than in 1977. White and Black 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds have also shown an increase in science performance since 1977. Hispanic 17-year-olds' and White 17-year-olds' NAEP scores were higher in 1999 than they were in 1982, 1986, and 1990 as well.

White students outperformed both Hispanic and Black students in science at all three age levels in 1999, and Hispanic 17-year-olds scored higher than Black 17-year-olds. Examining the long-term trend, the gap between White and Hispanic students has remained unchanged since 1977, except in 1992 for 13-year-olds and in 1982 for 17-year-olds, when these gaps were statistically significantly different from the 1999 gaps (supplemental table 4.4a).

When student performance is broken out by parental education attainment categories, NAEP science score gaps between Hispanic and White 12th-graders persist. In 2000, there was a 9-point gap between the scores of Hispanics and Whites whose parents did not finish high school, a 19-point gap for those whose parents graduated from high school, an 18-point gap for those whose parents had some education after high school, and a 24-point gap for those whose parents had graduated from college (supplemental table 4.4b).