Report Card for Americans

Most parents view academic achievement in individual terms--that is, how their kids stack up against their immediate classmates. In fact, the U.S. has done little to determine the knowledge levels of entire age groups across the nation. What, for instance, do American nine-year-olds really know about math? What do they not know? Where are 13-year-olds most deficient in literature, say, or social studies?

Meeting in Denver last week, the Education Commission of the States supplied some preliminary answers by releasing the first results of an ambitious project called the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Designed to "fill a gap about what groups of Americans know and can do," the ongoing survey may well prove a substantial boon to the nation's primary-and secondary-school curriculum planners.

The N.A.E.P. project is a census-like survey of what four age groups--nine, 13, 17 and 26 to 35--know in ten subject areas. From now through 1975, there will be statistical accountings, and periodic reassessments, of knowledge in citizenship, art, music, literature, mathematics, reading, writing, social studies and career development. Future reports --still retaining the basic age-group system--will be broken down geographically, sexually, racially and environmentally. The long-range purpose of national assessment is "to measure changes in knowledge and skills and improve the quality of education in the nation."

My Dog, Your Dog. Focused on science, last week's results proved enlightening if not startling. The scientific facts known to most nine-year-olds, for instance, were limited to simple phenomena. More than four out of five knew that rocks are solid, that iron does not burn by ordinary means and that pines stay green all winter. Abstractions tended to baffle them: only one in four could pick out the definition for "scientific theory" from five choices.

Thirteen-year-olds also fared best in scientific simplicities, but they were able to make basic judgments based on their knowledge. Solid majorities knew that a fanned fire burns faster because of the increase in oxygen. A surprise for parents: 89% identified the balanced meal (steak, bread, carrots, milk) in a list of diverting alternatives. The 13-year-olds tended to be stronger at graph and table reading than at using lab equipment. Nearly three-quarters agreed that the statement "My dog is better than your dog" is not a matter amenable to scientific inquiry.

The assessment suggests that book learning peaks at 17, an age that also shows a wide range of "common" knowledge. Thus 93% of that group knew that gasoline comes from petroleum, 69% that a galaxy contains many stars. But only 58% of the country's 17-year-olds, despite their proximity to science teachers, realized that matter consists of individual moving particles, and a mere 46% knew that the higher a musical note, the higher the frequency and the shorter the wavelength. Many were prone to misconceptions: asked which of five characteristics is peculiar to birds, only half correctly chose "a body covering of feathers" (more than one-fourth fell for "ability to fly").

According to the survey, adults aged 26 to 35 are rusty on book learning but show scientific awareness picked up from the press, TV and practical experience. Most were strongest on medical facts: 70% know that adrenalin is a stimulant to the heart, 79% that whooping cough cannot be inherited, 91% that chromosomes determine sex. Young adults did well in fact analysis and math calculations. But only 26% recalled that the periodic table shows the relationship of chemical elements, and a scant 3% correctly picked uranium-lead dating as an accurate method of determining the age of ancient rocks. Far oftener than any of the other groups, the 26-to-35s admitted their shortcomings and answered "I don't know."

Besides multiple-choice questions, N.A.E.P.'s varied format includes questionnaires, short-answer tests, performance tasks (using scientific equipment), interviews and group discussions. The project is run by a permanent field staff working in private residences and about 2,500 schools. Individual participants--100,000 of them to date--are chosen on random but statistically valid bases, and are never given scores or grades.

Pleasant and Unpleasant. National Assessment was set in motion in 1963 by Francis Keppel, then U.S. Commissioner of Education. The data gathering began last year, and the project was taken over by the Education Commission of the States, whose membership includes governors, legislators and state school officials. So far, the program has cost $7,000,000, most of it funded by the U.S. Office of Education and the Carnegie Corporation.

The E.C.S. asked a panel of reviewers to comment freely on the science report. Most expressed cautious hope that the country's schools will take a hard look at the results and sharpen their teaching accordingly. But one commentator, Curriculum Consultant Dr. Richard J. Merrill of California, livened his remarks with a list of "Pleasant and Unpleasant Surprises." A sampler of the Unpleasant: "Only 38% of nines and 49% of adults could time ten swings of a pendulum. Only 41% of 17s and 45% of adults knew the function of the placenta. Only 18% of 17s knew that nuclei are more dense than the rest of the atom; 93% thought that metal cans for food are made chiefly of tin." Among the Pleasant: "Ninety-two percent of nines and 98% of 13s know that a human baby comes from its mother's body. Seventy-eight percent of nines feel there must be a reason why a rubbed balloon sticks to the wall." As if anxious to grasp at any sign of U.S. educational maturity, Merrill also noted: "Eighty-nine percent of 17s knew that living dinosaurs have never been seen by men, The Flintstones notwithstanding!"

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