Assessing the Best: NAEP's 1996 Assessment of Twelfth-Graders Taking Advanced Science Courses.

This report presents the results of a study conducted during the 1995-1996 school year to evaluate the educational progress of 12th grade students taking advanced biology, chemistry, and physics courses. The study was conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in association with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The results reported in this document include information on the science courses students were taking, their academic achievement, and performance results for the selected questions. Chapters include: (1) Overview of the 1996 Advanced Science Study; (2) Science Course-Taking and Student Performance; and (3) Sample Questions and Student Responses. The appendices contain scoring guides for sample questions from the advanced science study, an overview of procedures used for the NAEP advanced science study and standard errors. (YDS)