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

Eighty-four 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).
Sixty-four percent of Texas students have teachers who spend three or more hours on science instruction per week (higher than the national average).

Percentage of students in grade 4 science, by selected characteristics and jurisdiction: 2009
Jurisdiction	Teacher has master’s degree as highest academic degree		Students do hands-on science activities at least once a week		Students have access to computers for science to a large extent		Schools have computerized science labs for classroom use		3 or more hours per week on science instruction¹
Nation (public)	45		51		48		24		47
California	38	*	35	*	45		21		28	*
Florida	32	*	43	*	67	*	40	*	45
Illinois	53	**	48		47		16	*	56	*
New York	84	**	62	*	59	*	32		36	*
Texas	17	**	61	*	44		36	*	64	*
* 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, hands on science activities, access to computers, 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), 2009 Science Assessment.