The newly released NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) 2009 results for science in our major cities offer no condolences: Of the seventeen large urban districts that participated, none fared better than the national mean. Only three attained the national average on the fourth grade test (Austin, Charlotte, and Jefferson County, KY); for the eighth grade test, that number drops to one (Austin). Much more disheartening: Cleveland and Detroit each claim only 4 percent proficiency in science in fourth grade. As this was the first NAEP TUDA administered using the newly designed science frameworks, comparisons to previous assessments aren’t possible. What is possible is to use these dismal results to spur on a conversation about the need to focus on strong curricular provision in this key subject.
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National Center for Education Statistics, The Nation’s Report Card: Science 2009: Trial Urban District Assessment (Washington, D.C.: Institute of Education Sciences, 2011).
