About the NAEP Science Assessment
The NAEP Science Assessment Framework
The National Assessment Governing Board oversees the development of NAEP frameworks that describe the specific knowledge and skills to be assessed in each subject and how the assessment questions should be designed and scored. The NAEP science assessment framework describes the science content and practices that form the basis for the assessment.
Science Content Areas
The three science content areas assessed focus on principles central to each discipline and reflect the science curriculum students are generally exposed to across grades K through 12. The science content areas include:
Physical Science includes concepts related to properties and changes of matter, forms of energy, energy transfer and conservation, motion at the macroscopic level, and forces affecting motion.
Life Science includes concepts related to the functioning of living systems including organization and development, matter and energy transformations, interdependence, heredity and reproduction, and evolution and diversity.
Earth and Space Sciences include concepts related to objects in the universe, the history of the Earth, properties of Earth materials, tectonics, energy in Earth systems, climate and weather, and biogeochemical cycles.
Science Practices
Science comprises both content and practices, which are described below. The four science practices describe how students use their scientific knowledge by measuring what they are able to do with the science content. Although the framework distinguishes content from practice, the two are closely linked in assessment as in science.
Identifying Science Principles focuses on students’ ability to recognize, recall, define, relate, and represent basic science principles in each of the three content areas.
Using Science Principles focuses on the importance of science knowledge in making accurate predictions about and explaining observations of the natural world.
Using Scientific Inquiry focuses on designing, critiquing, and evaluating scientific investigations; identifying patterns in data; using empirical evidence to validate or criticize conclusions; and conducting scientific investigations using appropriate tools and techniques.
Using Technological Design focuses on the systematic process of applying science knowledge and skills to propose or critique solutions to real-world problems, identify trade-offs, and anticipate effects of technological design decisions.
See the amount of assessment time specified by the NAEP science framework and how it is devoted to each science content area and science practice in the grade 8 science assessment.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a congressionally mandated project administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the U.S. Department of Education and is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what our nation's students know and can do in select subjects. The NAEP science assessment measures students’ knowledge of three broad content areas—Physical Science, Life Science, and Earth and Space Sciences—and four science practices—Identifying Science Principles, Using Science Principles, Using Scientific Inquiry, and Using Technological Design. These four practices describe how students use their science knowledge by measuring what they are able to do with the science content. Results for the 2024 science assessment at grade 8 are reported for the nation.