Science Classroom Context

NAEP collects information on student, teacher, and school characteristics to provide context for results. The tables below provide a selection of results from the 2009 teacher and student questionnaires at grade 4 and 2011 questionnaires at grade 8. These results focus on teacher preparation, availability of technology, and instructional practices.

Grade 4

Grade 8

Seventy-nine percent of New York students have teachers with a master’s as their highest academic degree (higher than the nation and all the other Mega-States).
Ninety percent of Texas students do hands-on science activities at least once a week (higher than the nation and all the other Mega-States).

Percentage of students in grade 8 science, by selected characteristics and jurisdiction: 2011
Jurisdiction	Teacher has master’s as highest academic degree		Teacher has undergraduate major/minor in biology or other life science		Students do hands-on science activities at least once a week		Schools have computerized science labs for classroom use		Receives 5 or more hours per week on science instruction¹
Nation (public)	50		57		74		58		35
California	45		61		69		56		28	*
Florida	30	*	58		67		73	*	31
Illinois	66	**	55		75		46	*	27	*
New York	79	**	79	**	83	*	59		27	*
Texas	23	*	59		90	**	68	*	37
* Significantly different (p < .05) from the nation. ** Significantly different (p < .05) from the nation and the other Mega-States. ¹ Percentages for the combined categories shown in the table were calculated by using the unrounded percentage for the individual response category. NOTE: See complete data for highest academic degree, teacher has undergraduate major/minor in biology or other life science, hands on science activities, computerized science labs, and time spent per week on science instruction. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2011 Science Assessment.