Table 1-3
Changes in science performance of students in grades 4, 8, and 12, by student characteristics and other factors: 1996–2005 and 2000–05
 
 
  Grade 4   Grade 8   Grade 12
Student characteristic 1996–2005   2000–05   1996–2005   2000–05   1996–2005   2000–05
 
Average score  
Total ▲   ▲   ●   ●   ▼   ●
Sex  
Male ▲   ▲   ●   ●   ▼   ●
Female ●   ▲   ●   ●   ▼   ●
Race/ethnicity  
White, non-Hispanic ▲   ▲   ●   ●   ●   ●
Black, non-Hispanic ▲   ▲   ▲   ●   ●   ●
Hispanic ▲   ▲   ●   ●   ●   ●
Asian/Pacific Islandera ▲   NA   ●   ●   ●   ●
American Indian/Alaska Native ●   ●   ▼   ▼   ●   ●
Free/reduced-price lunch  
Eligible ▲   ▲   ●   ▲   NA   NA
Not eligible ▲   ▲   ▲   ●   NA   NA
Percentile scoresb  
10th ▲   ▲   ●   ●   ▼   ●
25th ▲   ▲   ●   ●   ▼   ●
50th ▲   ▲   ●   ●   ●   ●
75th ●   ●   ●   ●   ▼   ●
90th ●   ●   ●   ●   ▼   ●
Changes in achievement gaps in average scores  
Gender gap ●   ●   ●   ●   ●   ●
White-black gap ▼   ▼   ●   ●   ●   ▲
White-Hispanic gap ●   ▼   ●   ●   ●   ●
Eligible and not eligible for free/reduced-price lunch gap ●   ▼   ●   ▼   NA   NA
 

▲ = increase; ● = no change; ▼ = decrease (based on t-tests using unrounded numbers); NA = not available

aNational Center for Education Statistics (NCES) did not publish 2000 science scores for grade 4 Asians/Pacific Islanders because of accuracy and precision concerns.
bPercentage of students whose scores fell below a particular score, e.g., 75% of students had scores <75th percentile.

SOURCES: NCES, The Nation's Report Card: Mathematics 2005, NCES 2006-453 (2006); National Assessment of Educational Progress,1996, 2000, and 2005 science assessments; and National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, special tabulations. See appendix table 1-7.

Science and Engineering Indicators 2008
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