Welcome

North Carolina’s performance on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science assessment was not a popular subject for the state’s media establishment last week. The N.C. Department of Public Instruction press release notwithstanding, Factiva database searches of major media outlets produced one freakin’ result — a January 25 mention in the Greensboro News & Record. (By the way, kudos to the staff of The News & Record.) It is not hard to understand why the mainstream media waddled the other way. Our public school leaders cannot maintain (or defend) the status quo if legislators and parents have compelling evidence that the status quo is failing.

Bulletin Board

  • The John Locke Foundation is sponsoring a Citizen’s Constitutional Workshop on Saturday, February 19, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Trinity Free Will Baptist Church Auditorium in La Grange, NC. Historian Dr. Troy Kickler and political science expert Dr. Michael Sanera will discuss "What the Founders and the State Ratification Conventions Can Teach Us Today." The cost is $7.00 per participant, lunch included. Pre-registration is strongly suggested. For more information or to sign up for the event, visit the Events section of the John Locke Foundation web site.

  • Join us at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 26, for the John Locke Foundation’s 21st Anniversary Celebration. We will convene at North Ridge Country Club, Raleigh, NC. Our special guest will be noted journalist and author George Will. Individual tickets are $100 per person, and sponsorships and VIP tickets are available. Valet parking is included in the ticket price. Please click here for online registration and additional information.

  • The North Carolina History Project would like educators and homeschool parents to submit lesson plans suitable for middle and high school courses in North Carolina history. Please provide links to NC History Project encyclopedia articles and other primary and secondary source material, if possible. Go to http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/edu_corner for further information.

  • Become a member of JLF’s Freedom Clubs! We have seven regional clubs covering every part of North Carolina, so there is one near you and your like-minded conservative friends. For more information, visit https://www.johnlocke.org/support.

 

CommenTerry

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education released results from the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science assessment. Beginning in 1996, federal education officials administered NAEP science tests in four-to-five-year cycles.

Between 1996 and 2005, science scores for North Carolina’s fourth- and eighth-grade students remained flat. While fourth-graders reached the national average in 2005, eighth-grade students were significantly below the national average. The 2009 assessment includes revisions that make comparisons with the 1996, 2000, and 2005 tests impossible, but the results were just as alarming as they were in the past.

One quick note: The NAEP science assessment should not be confused with state-level tests. Every year, all fifth- and eighth-grade students in North Carolina take an End-of-Grade (EOG) science test. Comparisons of the NAEP and EOG tests are problematic because the two tests do not have similar samples nor test similar content at the same grade level.

A representative sample of fourth- and eighth-grade public school students from forty-six states and Department of Defense schools participated in the 2009 NAEP science assessment. (A small national sample of twelfth-grade students also participated, but state-level data for this cohort is not available.) Out of a possible 300 points, fourth-grade student in North Carolina had an average score of 148. That score was not significantly different from the national average score, which was 149. North Carolina’s score was lower than the average scores from 24 participating states, higher than nine states, and not significantly different from thirteen states. Eighth-grade students in North Carolina had an average score of 144, which was significantly lower than the national average score of 149. This score was lower than the average scores from 29 participating states, higher than only five states, and not significantly different from twelve states.

North Carolina also mirrored the nation in the size of the achievement gap. White students outscored black students by 36 points and Hispanic students by 30 points. The two gaps were not significantly different from the national average gap. Like the state’s fourth-grade NAEP science scores, North Carolina’s eighth-grade achievement gap was consistent with the national average. White students outscored black students by 37 points and Hispanic students by 26 points.

What are the practical implications of these test scores? First, these trends indicate that North Carolina students remain competitive through their elementary school years, but lose ground in middle school. To their credit, North Carolina education officials acknowledge that the state’s middle schools are struggling. Yet, policies and programs designed to improve student performance in grades six through eight have been disappointing. Low promotion, grading, and behavioral standards are partly to blame.

Second, the data suggest that North Carolina does not have an unusually large achievement gap. This is not to say that state and national achievement gaps of this magnitude are acceptable. They are not. But it undermines the argument that "inadequate investment" in North Carolina’s public schools perpetuates unusually large gaps in science performance. After all, black fourth-grade students in high spending states like Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania had science scores that were significantly lower than the national average. On the other hand, eighth-grade Hispanic students in low-spending states such as Kentucky and Tennessee outscored the national average.

Finally, these scores are a reminder of the inadequacies of our state science tests. NAEP provides valuable insight into how North Carolina’s elementary and middle school students compare with their counterparts in other states. Our state tests are produced in-house and are not norm-referenced, meaning that we do not know how North Carolina stacks up against other states. If we expect our children to compete in a global economy, it is essential that our schools administer tests that, at minimum, measure their competitiveness on a national scale.

 

Random Thought

In 1989, hip-hop pioneers the Beastie Boys reported that they were "dropping the new science and kicking the new knowledge." Has the nation followed suit? Do we even know what the Beastie Boys were talking about?

Facts and Stats

NAEP 2009 Science Content Topics and Subtopics

Physical Science

  • Matter
    • Properties of matter
    • Changes in matter

  • Energy
    • Forms of energy
    • Energy transfer and conservation

  • Motion
    • Motion at the macroscopic level
    • Forces affecting motion

Life Science

  • Structures and Functions of Living Systems
    • Organization and development
    • Matter and energy transformations
    • Interdependence

  • Changes in Living Systems
    • Heredity and reproduction
    • Evolution and diversity

Earth and Space Sciences

  • Earth in Space and Time
    • Objects in the universe
    • History of Earth

  • Earth Structures
    • Properties of Earth materials
    • Tectonics

  • Earth Systems
    • Energy in Earth systems
    • Climate and weather
    • Biogeochemical cycles

Source: National Assessment Governing Board, "Science Framework for the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress," U.S. Department of Education, September 2008, p. 21.

 

Mailbag

I would like to invite all readers to submit announcements, as well as their personal insights, anecdotes, concerns, and observations about the state of education in North Carolina. I will publish selected submissions in future editions of the newsletter. Anonymity will be honored. For additional information or to send a submission, email Terry at [email protected].

 

Education Acronym of the Week

STEM — science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

 

Quote of the Week

"Maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to America’s success. But if we want to win the future — if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas — then we also have to win the race to educate our kids. Think about it. Over the next 10 years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school education. And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren’t even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations."
— President Barack Obama, State of the Union address, January 25, 2011

 

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