NAEP - TUDA 2005: District Profiles

Urban District Results

Science

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District Profiles

Scale Score Results

Achievement-Level Results

A Closer Look at Individual Districts

Use the tabs below to view science performance for each participating district. The profiles present a closer look at results for each district’s student groups by race/ethnicity and by income level (eligibility for free or reduced-price school lunch) and offer comparisons to the nation's public schools and to large central city public schools. In addition, results for a few, selected test questions are provided to give the reader a more concrete sense of how the district’s students performed. To learn more about the educational context in each district, see About Urban Districts.

GRADE 4
STUDENT GROUPS

GRADE 4
ITEM PERFORMANCE

GRADE 8
STUDENT GROUPS

GRADE 8
ITEM PERFORMANCE

Percentage of eighth-grade student responses rated correct or "Complete" on selected NAEP science questions in 2005, by jurisdiction
Achieve– ment level	Score location	Question description	Nation	Large central city	Houston
Advanced 208 – 300	230	Explain how to find out if a glass contains salt water	22	16	14
Advanced 208 – 300	218	Describe means by which plants prevent erosion	16	9	8
Proficient 170 – 207	198	Identify location of cell's genetic material	52	44	41
	188	Identify zone on a map with a temperate climate	51	42	34
	178	Describe experiment to measure the volume of an object	43	32	34
Basic 143 – 169	162	Explain relative motion of two vehicles	53	43	39
	160	Describe effect of pollutant on food web	54	44	41
	147	Identify an action to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere	72	64	61
0 – 142	136	Identify relationship between rainfall and seed production	77	71	70
0 – 142	111	List three uses for human-made satellites	80	73	70
NOTE: Multiple-choice questions are shown in italic type.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2005 Trial Urban District Science Assessment.

In the table above, the “score location” of a test question on the scale represents the average scale score attained by students who had a 65 percent probability of successfully answering a constructed-response question, or a 74 percent probability of correctly answering a four-option multiple-choice question.

The scale score ranges for the science achievement levels (Basic, Proficient, and Advanced) are also displayed in the table. For constructed-response questions, the question description represents students’ performance rated as completely correct. The hyperlinked items have been released and are available in the NAEP Questions tool. To find other sample test questions with associated performance results by nation, state, and district, search the NAEP Questions Tool.

Cross-jurisdiction significance results are calculated using a multiple-comparison procedure based on all participating districts. Results may vary from those obtained using single-district comparisons, such as those in the single-district snapshot reports.

Read more about the 2005 science assessment on the NAEP website. Read the specific definitions of the Basic, Proficient, and Advanced achievement levels for grades 4 and 8.

Select from the list below to view a district's Snapshot report as a PDF file.

View TUDA Snapshot: