Bad Marks for Science and Math

K-12

IN A WORLD where technology is becoming increasingly important, students in America's inner-city schools are failing to learn the basics of science. That's the dismal result of the National Assessment of Educational Progress's first in-depth look at science learning at the district level in 10 urban areas. At the 8th-grade level, when students should be learning advanced concepts, the majority of students in nine of the 10 cities assessed didn't understand science at the most basic levels. Only in Austin was a slim_majority of students-52 percent-rated as having basic or better science skills. Twenty-five percent were rated as having basic skills, 23 percent had proficient skills and four percent fell in the advanced category. The worst performing city was Atlanta, where 70 percent of 8th graders don't understand basic science. On a national level, things are pretty grim, too: 43 percent are below basic; 30 percent understand basic concepts, while 24 percent and 3 percent are considered proficient or advanced at science, respectively. There's a very slim reed of hope for the future. At the 4th-grade level, three of the 10 cities had fewer than half their students rated as below basic: Austin and Charlotte (both 40 percent) and San Diego (49 percent). Los Angeles' 4th graders ranked last: 65 percent were assessed as below basic. Nationally, 34 percent of 4th graders haven't grasped the rudiments of science. -TG

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