Wisconsin’s NAEP science scores show solid performance

Wisconsin students scored above the national average in the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science assessment.

“The performance of our overall student group validates once again that Wisconsin public schools are providing a solid education,” said State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster.

Called the Nation’s Report Card, the NAEP assessments are administered to a sample of students in each state as well as the nation. In Wisconsin, 2,631 fourth-grade students and 2,610 eighth-grade students took the science exams during the six-week testing period that ended in March 2005. At both fourth- and eighth-grades, Wisconsin students’ scale scores were 158, nine and 11 points higher, respectively, than the nation. The national scale score was 149 at grade four and 147 at grade eight.

Scale scores reported by subgroups of students show the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged students, English-language learners (ELL), students with disabilities, children of color, and their peers for both the state and the nation. For the most part, Wisconsin outperformed the nation, although Burmaster stressed that, “We must continue our efforts to work with educators and parents, business and industry, elected officials, and local communities, around our shared responsibility to educate all children and close the achievement gap.”

Last updated on 6/26/2006