WASHINGTON -- U.S. eighth-graders are gaining on their peersacross the globe in science and math, but fourth-graders are beingpassed as their test scores remain stagnant, according to aninternational review of school performance.
The 2003 test results released Tuesday offer some hope and reliefto the United States, coming just a week after its 15-year-olds didpoorly in math in another prominent comparison.
The achievement gap between black and white children is shrinking,the new scores show, a goal of the government's education policiesunder President Bush.
Yet several countries, particularly in Asia, continue tooutperform the United States in science and math, fields at the heartof research and economic competitiveness.
Playing it down
Given this country's recent emphasis on achievement in the earlygrades, the flat performance by fourth-graders drew concern, and someplaying down, from U.S. officials.
The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, orTIMSS, is a test of curriculum taught in all participating countries,from chemistry and physics to geometry and algebra.
"It's really the only way we have to determine how the UnitedStates as a nation is doing in preparing its children and itsstudents in math and science," said Russ Whitehurst, director of theInstitute of Education Sciences at the Education Department.
Federal officials also suggested that a better measure of U.S.achievement would be how students do on the test known as theNational Assessment of Educational Progress. On that U.S. test, morealigned to standards in schools here, fourth-graders and eighth-graders made sizable gains at every level in math in 2003.
AP
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