Performance in Science on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments--Series II for Students in Grades 5 and 8. Issues & Answers. REL 2012-No. 138

Policymakers in Minnesota have made assessing and improving student science performance a priority (Minnesota High Tech Association 2010a,b). Minnesota has supported several statewide initiatives to promote science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)--including a grant from the National Governors Association to increase science learning opportunities, align K-12 STEM education requirements with postsecondary workplace expectations, improve the quality and quantity of STEM teachers, benchmark standards, and identify best practices in STEM education (National Governors Association 2007). To gauge student progress toward the state's academic science standards, the Minnesota Department of Education introduced the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments-Series II (MCA-II) science assessment in 2008. Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest responded to a request by the Minnesota Department of Education to study elementary and middle school science achievement. The current study addresses three research questions: (1) How does student achievement on the 2009/10 MCA-II science assessment in grades 5 and 8 differ by student demographic characteristics?; (2) How does schoolwide achievement on the 2009/10 MCA-II science assessment in grades 5 and 8 relate to school characteristics?; and (3) To what extent do school characteristics explain differences in student achievement on the 2009/10 MCA-II science assessment in grades 5 and 8, after accounting for the influence of student characteristics? This study used data for 51,510 grade 5 students in 786 schools and 52,421 grade 8 students in 469 schools. Students' levels of science achievement depended on their demographic characteristics for both the grade 5 and grade 8 assessment: (1) Students who were not identified for special education services scored higher than students who were; (2) Students who were not eligible for free or reduced-price lunch scored higher than students who were; (3) White students scored higher than students of other racial/ethnic groups; and (4) Male students scored higher than female students. Eight of the nine school characteristics examined were related to schoolwide science achievement: (1) Science achievement tended to be lower in schools with higher percentages of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, limited English proficient students, students identified for special education services, and non-White students; (2) Science achievement tended to be higher in schools that h