Georgia one of 20 states leading the development

The first public draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is now available at www.nextgenscience.org and will be available until June 1.

Twenty-five states, including Georgia, and the District of Columbia are leading the development of the NGSS, an effort that will clearly define the content and practices all students will need to learn from kindergarten through high school graduation. The NGSS process is being managed by Achieve, a non-partisan education non-profit.

“I’m pleased that Georgia is one of the lead states so we can help shape future science standards,” said State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge. “I would rather us help shape what future science standards look like than have them handed down to us without any input.”

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Georgia has caught up to the rest of the nation in eighth-grade science.

Students in Georgia scored an average of 151 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam last year, meeting the national average for the first time. Students in Georgia gained four points on the test since 2009.

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NAEP — known as the Nation’s Report Card – released its 2011 science assessment for grade 8 this morning. I had a preview of the scores yesterday in a conference call. In January and March, 122,000 8th graders from all 50 states and Washington, DC, took the science NAEP.

(The administration of this test has been changed to align with the TIMSS, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, to facilitate international comparisons.)

On a sale of 0 to 300, the average 2011 scale was 152. In 2009, the average was 150. The students were tested in the areas of physical, earth/space and life sciences. The average score for students in Georgia in 2011 (151) was higher than their average score in 2009 (147).

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Science scores for Georgia’s eighth-graders are on the rise, matching their peers across the country on a national test released Thursday.

Standardized science test scores for eighth-graders taking the  2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress showed a 4-point increase, bringing the state’s score 151 — the same as the national average. The overall growth rate for the nation was 2 points.

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8TH Grade Students Score at National Average

Georgia students showed significant two-year growth in science, according to national test results released today. The results of the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in science show Georgia’s 8th graders had a four-point scale score increase, compared to just two points for the nation. This increase brings Georgia’s average scale score to that of the nation’s scale score average (151).

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