Nation's Report Card Home

Summary of Major Findings

 

Four districts score above large cities at both grades

Among the 17 urban districts that participated in the 2009 science assessment, scores for both fourth- and eighth-graders in 4 districts were higher than the scores for their respective peers attending public schools in large cities overall. Scores for both grades in 8 districts were lower than the scores for large cities nationally.

In comparison to the average scores in 2009 for large cities in the nation,

orange bullet Austin, Charlotte, Jefferson County (Louisville, KY), and Miami-Dade had higher scores at both grades;

green bullet scores in San Diego were higher at grade 4 and not significantly different at grade 8;

burgundy bullet scores in Boston were higher at grade 4 and lower at grade 8;

blue bullet scores in Houston were not significantly different at grade 4 and higher at grade 8;

gold bullet scores in Atlanta and New York City were not significantly different at grade 4 and lower at grade 8; and

brown bullet Baltimore City, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Fresno, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia had lower scores at both grades.

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Representative samples of fourth- and eighth-grade public school students from 17 urban districts participated in the 2009 science assessment. Between 900 and 2,200 students were assessed at each grade in the participating districts.

  • At grade 4, scores in large cities overall and in 14 of the 17 participating districts were lower than the score for the nation. Scores for Austin, Charlotte, and Jefferson County were not significantly different from the score for the nation. View more grade 4 results and achievement gaps across participating districts.
  • At grade 8, scores in large cities overall and in 16 of the 17 districts were lower than the score for the nation. The score for Austin was not significantly different from the score for the nation. View more grade 8 results and achievement gaps across participating districts.

Students responded to questions designed to measure their knowledge of science. Find out more about what the science assessment measures.

For more information, browse the report online or download a copy of the report.