Results from the most recent NAEP Science Assessment show that students who used probeware and computers to collect and analyze data scored significantly higher on the NAEP science scale than those who reported never doing so. And the more frequently students used the technology, the higher they scored!

Teachers currently using PASCO probeware solutions tell us they see greater student achievement. While their observations are often anecdotal, we've been pleased to hear their stories about successful teaching and effective student learning. Now, the NAEP Science 2000 report adds the credibility of a study of 49,000 students across the nation to the case for effective use of probeware in science education.

What Does the NAEP Science Assessment Measure?

NAEP measures the science knowledge and skills of fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade students. According to the NAEP Science Framework, developed by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), students are to be assessed in science in the following areas:

• Knowledge of facts;
  
• An ability to integrate this knowledge into larger constructs; and
  
• The capacity to use the tools, procedures, and reasoning processes of science to develop an increased understanding of the natural world.

Based on this framework, the science assessment measures and reports subscales for three major fields of science, as follows:

• Earth
  
• Physical
  
• Life

The assessment also measures three characteristic elements of knowing and doing science, as follows:

• Conceptual understanding
  
• Scientific investigation
  
• Practical reasoning

Each exercise in the science assessment measures one of the elements of knowing and doing science within one of the fields of science (for example, scientific investigation in the context of physical science).

What is NAEP?

Often called the "Nation's Report Card," the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only nationally representative, continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. NAEP provides a comprehensive measure of students' learning at critical junctures in their school experience.

The assessment has been conducted regularly since 1969. Because it makes objective information about student performance available to policymakers at national and state levels, NAEP plays an integral role in evaluating the conditions and progress of the nation's education

About NAEP Science 2000

In 2000, NAEP administered the latest science assessment to approximately 49,000 students at grades 4, 8, and 12 in the nation. The national sample assessed 777 schools at grade 4, 751 schools at grade 8, and 550 schools at grade 12.

Positive Results also observed in lower grades with Effective Computer Usage

Would you like to explore these results further? Here are some helpful links to the NAEP Science Assessment:

Download or Order "The Nation's Report Card: Science Highlights 2000"

Browse all the results on the NAEP Science 2000 Results Homepage

Grade 12 results on computer use in Science.

Grade 4 and Grade 8 results on computer use in science