NH students score low on science exam

Roughly three-quarters of middle school and high school students tested in science could not demonstrate proficiency, according to the results of the state’s first science assessment in five years.

The state Department of Education released the results Thursday morning. Students in fourth, eighth and 11th grade took the test in May, as part of the state’s compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind act.

The law, enacted in 2002, required that all states begin testing students in science starting this year.

High school students scored the lowest out of the three groups tested, with 78 percent scoring below proficient. At the middle school level, 74 percent of students scored below proficient.

Elementary students did much better on the test, relatively speaking; roughly half – much better on the test, relatively speaking; roughly half49 percent – scored below proficient.

The science test is part of the New England Common Assessment Program, which is a collaborative effort with Vermont and Rhode Island. Kurtz said students in all three states took the same test, but New Hampshire released its results first.

Scores are broken into four categories, the highest being proficient with distinction, followed by proficient, partially proficient and substantially below proficient.

Jan McLaughlin, science consultant for the state education department, called the results “disappointing but not unexpected.”

McLaughlin pointed to the gap since the last statewide science test, which was in 2003, as one of the possible reasons for the low scores.

Another factor is that the state has revised its science curriculum frameworks since the last test, she said.

The new frameworks were passed by the state board of education in 2006, and McLaughlin said districts are at different points in the process of aligning their science curriculum to those frameworks.

“Some schools are just getting now to the point of realizing that they need to pay attention to that,” she said.

The curriculum standards of all three states were used to develop the questions on the test.

Although No Child Left Behind requires testing in science, it does not require states hold schools and districts accountable for the results.

In math and reading, schools are required to meet annual performance benchmarks. Those benchmarks get notched up every two years until 2014, when all students are required to be proficient in both subjects.

Critics of No Child Left Behind have argued that by putting all of the focus on math and reading, it leaves little classroom time to spend on subjects like science and social studies.

Regardless of the cause, the results indicate that students, particularly those at the middle school and high school levels, haven’t learned the science skills the state expects them to.

Tim Kurtz, director of assessment for the state, said it would be up to local education officials to go over the scores and see where improvements can be made.

“Every district has to look at their own results to decide where they might have areas of strengths or weaknesses,” he said.

Kurtz said the test gives schools baseline data, and he expects marked improvement in next year’s scores.

The test was made up of multiple-choice questions and constructed response questions. There was also a part of the test that required students to use materials provided to them to conduct an “inquiry task.”

Students would have to make a prediction, conduct the experiment and collect the data. The focus was meant to be more on how to use their understanding of science concepts.

McLaughlin helped develop the test, along with officials from Vermont and Rhode Island. The three states came up with science targets to develop the questions.

The targets “articulate the skills, concepts and content knowledge a student should be able to demonstrate across the grades in order to be scientifically literate by the end of high school.”

McLaughlin said she believed the difficulty and rigor of the questions were right where they should have been and didn’t think it was too hard.

“I think it was a valid test,” she said. “It shows where we have areas to work on.”

Those problem areas were earth and space science, she said. There also needs to be more emphasis on inquiry-based learning, she said.

In Nashua, 57 percent of fourth-grade students scored below proficient, which was more than the state average. However, scores varied widely among the city’s 12 elementary schools.

Main Dunstable had the highest score, with 41 percent of its students scoring below proficient. At Dr. Norman W. Crisp, which draws from the lowest-income parts of the city, 84 percent of students scored below proficient.

Ed Hendry, the district’s associate superintendent, said schools like Dr. Crisp and other schools that have been labeled “in need of improvement” are heavily focused on math and reading, which could lead to low science scores.

“It does present challenges for teachers to find the time,” he said.

Hendry said parents would be given their children’s individual results in the coming weeks.

Scores at Nashua’s middle schools were about the same as the state average, with 76 percent scoring below proficient. The school district pointed out that of the 64 middle school students in the state who scored proficient with distinction, 11 were students in Nashua.

At the two high schools, 83 percent of students scores below proficient.

Kathy Tafe, head of the science department at Nashua High School South, said the test was much more engaging than any other science test students had been given in the past.

“You actually had students using their science skills to answer these questions,” she said. “It was a well-developed test, challenging in a way that we haven’t seen in a test before.”

Tafe said the results allow teachers to target areas of weakness and improve instruction. One of the issues at the high school level is that some students may not have had instruction in certain subjects such as earth science for several years. “We need to find a way to cycle that into the material,” she said.

Tafe said attendance is also an issue, not only on the days of testing but throughout the year. Teachers incorporate test-taking strategies into the curriculum and students who miss school regularly are at a disadvantage, she said.

Individual school and district results can be found at the state Department of Education Web site, www.ed.state.nh.us.

NECAP science

May 2008

Grade 4……% scoring
…………………..Proficient or higher
Amherst St. ………………..48
Bicentennial…………..….54
Birch Hill………………….53
Broad St……………………50
Charlotte Ave………….….58
Dr. Crisp……………..……16
Fairground ES……………26
Ledge St…………………..23
Main Dunstable….………59
Mount Pleasant……..…..21
New Searles ……………38
Sunset Heights………….47

DISTRICT…………..……43
STATE……………..……..51

Grade 8>……% scoring
…………………..Proficient or higher
Elm St……………………22
Fairground……………….28
Pennichuck…..………….24

ALT……………………..….0
DISTRICT……………….24
STATE……………………26

Grade 11>>……% scoring
…………………..Proficient or higher
North …………………….18
South……………………..16

DISTRICT………………..17
STATE……………………22

Source: Nashua school district