The results are in for the latest National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) in science, and those results are grim, especially at the 12th grade, where 40 percent of students failed to attain even a "basic" level of proficiency. The test also revealed an enormous gap between the lowest- and highest-performing ethnic groups, as well as smaller but still significant gaps in achievement between males and females.
The latest science results from the "Nation's Report Card" have set a new baseline for student science achievement in the United States, and that baseline is low--"unacceptable," according to Francis Eberle, executive director for the National Science Teacher's Association. THE Journal discussed the latest national assessment results with Eberle, whose organization today issued a call to bolster resources for science education to avoid producing a "scientifically illiterate workforce."
Macmillan has debuted an updated version of its student response system, the i>clicker2. According to the company, the current version is in use at 900 academic institutions in North America. The new version is currently in beta and is expected to roll out in the fall.
RM Education has released RM Easiteach Next Generation for Mac OS X, bringing a number of features to the Mac platform that had previously been available only for WIndows-based systems.
American 15-year-olds saw some improvements in the latest round of international standardized tests administered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, headquartered in Paris, France. Science and math scores measurably improved over the previous round of OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey for American teenagers, while reading stayed statistically flat, albeit above the international average. The overall ranking for U.S. students in this year's PISA assessment rose six places since the previous assessment in 2006.
Blackboard has added support for Common Core State Standards to its flagship learning management system, Blackboard Learn 9.1.
Adobe revealed that it will end development on Project Rome, the company's experimental multimedia authoring and electronic portfolio tool, redirecting its development resources instead to tablet applications.
Every ethnic and gender group saw statistically significant gains in math in the 2009 national exam. In reading, the results were mixed--with some groups statistically flat and others making gains--though overall scale scores improved from 2005, and no groups declined.
Six members have been named to the National Assessment Governing Board, the organization that oversees and sets policies for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Questionmark has brought its mobile assessment app to the Android platform.