Improvement in science test scores encourages D.C. school officials

D.C. school officials said Tuesday that they were encouraged by the growth students showed on the science and biology segments of last year's DC-CAS standardized tests.

Overall scores remain low, but slightly more than a third of D.C. public school fifth-graders scored proficient or advanced, up 2 percentage points from 2008.

About a quarter of eighth-graders reached proficient or advanced, a 5 percent bump.

The scores are from only the second year of testing in science and biology, meaning there is not a substantial baseline for drawing broad comparisons about changes in performance.

The tests are given in grades 5 and 8, and also in grades 9 through 12.

There were some solid schoolwide gains, including in some of the middle schools. Takoma, Jefferson, Stuart-Hobson and Sousa improved by between 5 and 13 percentage points.

Fifth-graders at nine elementary schools boosted their scores by more than 20 percent: Emery, Noyes, Ross, Tyler, Barnard, Maury, West, Kimball and Stoddert.

Neither DCPS nor OSSE had any immediate explanation as to why these scores were announced eight months after the release of reading and math scores.