44
The percentage of fourth-graders in 14 urban school districts that scored Below Basic in science on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress.That is 15 percentage points below the already abysmal science illiteracy rate of 29 percent nationwide.
56
The percentage of eighth-graders in big cities scoring Below Basic in science. One out of every three students nationwide are scoring Below Basic in science.
74
Percentage of fourth-grade students in Detroit that scored Below Basic in science; the highest level of science illiteracy for students in any big-city district. Only Cleveland (70 percent) and Baltimore (69 percent) come close. The percentage of eighth-graders in Detroit scoring Below Basic in science? Four out of every five.
65
The percentage of fourth-graders in Austin on free- and reduced-lunch; by the way, 35 percent of students in Austin scored Below Basic in science, the fourth-lowest level of science illiteracy among the big cities surveyed.
81
Percentage of fourth-graders n free- and reduced lunch in Detroit, the worst-performing district.
122
Average NAEP score for African-American fourth-graders in big cities. The average score for black males was 121 and 124 for their female peers. Two out of every three African American boys and girls in major cities scored Below Basic in science.
130
Average NAEP score for Latino fourth-graders in big cities. One out of every two Latino boys and girls scored Below Basic.
121
Average NAEP score for black male students taught by National Board-certified teachers, just slightly below the national average for black fourth-graders overall. The general results for National Board-certified teachers in NAEP Science in every race, ethnic and gender category was generally no better than the average for their colleagues who didn’t have National Board certification.