Racial and gender gaps in science proficiency have narrowed modestly amid overall improvements at the 4th and 8th grade levels since 2009, but not much of a change has taken place among America’s high school seniors, national results released today show.
While officials attributed the improvements at the elementary and middle school levels to students, parents and teachers laboring away at a time of greater focus on science by the Obama administration, they suggested the stagnation among the nation’s high school seniors is likely due to the fact that students from minority groups are staying in high school longer and graduating more frequently but still not doing as well as their White peers in science.
Such were some of the conclusions drawn Wednesday about “The Nation’s Report Card: 2015 Science”—part of an assessment formally known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP—released today by the National Assessment Governing Board.
“Improving educational outcomes is a long-term investment,” U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. said Wednesday in a phone conference with reporters.
“It’s not surprising that you would see gains in the 4th and 8th grades,” King said. “The current 12th graders that took this last assessment had already gone through their elementary education by the time we made some of these important STEM investments. That may be a factor here.”
King was referring to efforts such as the “Educate to Innovate” initiative, launched by the Obama administration in 2009 to improve math and science achievement over the next decade.
