These online Highlights present an overview of results from the NAEP 2019 science report. Highlighted results include key findings for nationally representative samples of fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade students. Results are presented in terms of average scale scores and as percentages of students performing at the three NAEP achievement levels: NAEP Basic, NAEP Proficient, and NAEP Advanced. In addition to the overall average scale score, NAEP science results are also reported as average subscale scores for each of three content areas—Physical Science, Life Science, and Earth and Space Sciences. Highlighted results also include performance data for demographic student groups, scores at five selected percentiles, and responses to NAEP survey questionnaires

The 2019 average science score was lower for grade 4, and not significantly different for grades 8 and grade 12, compared to average scores in 2015. Average science scores were higher for grades 4 and 8, but not significantly different for grade 12, compared to 2009, the first year under the current science framework. Compared to 2015, the average score was lower for grade 4 in two of the three science content areas; there were no significant changes in average content areas scores for grades 8 and 12. Average scores were higher in two of the three content areas for grades 4 and 8 compared to 2009 while there were no significant changes in average scores across the content areas for grade 12.

Reported results include responses of students, teachers, and school administrators to survey questionnaires designed to collect information about student’s educational experiences and opportunities to learn both inside and outside of the classroom. The report includes detailed descriptions of released interactive scenario-based tasks and discrete questions to illustrate the types of science knowledge and scientific inquiry skills that were measured as part of the NAEP science assessment.

Full results are available in the 2019 NAEP Science Report Card.

The National Indian Education Study (NIES) utilizes the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and contextual questions to describe the condition of education for fourth- and eighth-grade American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in the United States. NIES is conducted under the direction of the National Center for Education Statistics on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Indian Education.

• an in-depth look at the findings from the student, teacher, and school administrator survey questions that were focused on AI/AN culture and language;
• information about the achievement of AI/AN students at grades 4 and 8 on the NAEP reading and mathematics assessments—for the nation as well as for 15 states with relatively large proportions of AI/AN students;
• an examination of contextual factors that are associated with higher- and lower-performing AI/AN students; and
• an exploration of composite variables (i.e., variables built upon multiple discrete student survey questions) related to AI/AN cultural knowledge, interest in reading about cultures (both their own and others), engagement at school, and perceptions about effort in school.

Results are reported for three mutually exclusive categories of schools as well as for an overall category:

• low density public schools (where less than 25 percent of all the students in the school were AI/AN);
• high density public schools (where 25 percent or more of all the students in the school were AI/AN);
• Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools; and
• all AI/AN students (includes all AI/AN students sampled throughout the nation in public, private, BIE, and Department of Defense schools).

The survey results presented in this report are focused primarily on the responses of fourth- and eighth-grade AI/AN students to selected survey questions. Approximately 7,000 fourth-graders and 6,300 eighth-graders participated in the NIES 2019 student survey. Teachers and school administrators also completed surveys.

Average scores in NAEP reading and mathematics for AI/AN fourth- and eighth- graders from earlier NAEP assessments in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2015 are compared to their average reading and mathematics scores in 2019.

The NIES survey questions, as well as the report itself, were created in close collaboration with the NIES Technical Review Panel (TRP). The NIES TRP is composed of AI/AN educational stakeholders from across the country.

2017 Mathematics Process Data: grade 8

As schools in the United States are increasingly using digital technology in the classroom to teach and assess students, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has moved forward to align with these practices. NAEP’s transition from paper-based to digitally based administration provides an engaging assessment experience for students and aligns with the delivery mode of many other large-scale assessments. Importantly, this transition to digitally based assessment (DBA) also allows NAEP to use tools available in digital platforms to measure content in new ways; to use assistive technology to provide enhanced accommodations for students with special needs; and to collect new types of data that deepen our understanding of what students know and can do, including how they engage with new technologies to approach problem solving.

In 2017, the NAEP mathematics assessment was administered for the first time as a DBA at grades 4 and 8. The digital platform allowed for the collection of new data within the testing system, including information on how students used onscreen tools to develop their responses to the assessment questions. These new data are called response process data. To further enrich our understanding of what students know and can do in the digital environment, response process data from the 2017 NAEP grade 8 mathematics assessment are now available for secondary analysis.

NAEP DBAs offer far more flexibility in meeting the needs of different students. The DBAs include Universal Design Elements, or built-in features that make it possible for more students to participate without special accommodation sessions. Onscreen tools are also available for students to use in their problem solving. The goal is for all students to have a seamless assessment administration, regardless of their ability.

These online Highlights reports present an overview of results from the NAEP 2018 civics, geography, and U.S. history reports. The reports include national results on the performance of eighth-grade students. Results are presented in terms of average scale scores and as percentages of students performing at or above the three NAEP achievement levels: NAEP Basic, NAEP Proficient, and NAEP Advanced. In addition to overall scores, results are reported by racial/ethnic groups, gender, type of school, and other demographic groups.

There was no significant change in the 2018 average civics score for eighth-grade students compared to the score in 2014. Reflecting the relatively stable overall average score since 2014, there were no significant changes in the scores of students at any of the selected percentile levels or for any of the major student groups that NAEP reports on. The 2018 average civics score was higher than the score in 1998. In addition, the scores of lower-performing students (those at the 10th and 25th percentiles) in 2018 were also higher than in 1998.

The 2018 average geography score for eighth-grade students was lower than in 2014. In 2018, scores for lower-performing students at the 10th and 25th percentiles decreased compared to scores in 2014, while the scores for middle- and higher-performing students remained relatively stable. There was no significant change in the 2018 score compared to the score from the first assessment in 1994; however, scores for higher-performing students (those at the 75th and 90th percentiles) were lower than in 1994.

In 2018, the average U.S. history score for eighth-grade students was lower than in 2014. Students at all selected percentile levels other than those at the highest level (those at the 90th percentile) saw a decrease in their scores. Compared to the score in the first assessment year in 1994, the 2018 average U.S. history score was 4 points higher. Students across performance levels made gains compared to 1994 except those at the 90th percentile, where there was no significant change in the score for these highest-performing students.

Highlighted results include responses of students and teachers to survey questionnaires designed to collect information about students’ educational experiences and opportunities to learn both in and outside of the classroom. In addition, the report includes sample questions from the assessments to help illustrate the types of knowledge and skills measured in civics, geography, and U.S. history.