Student Learning in Mathematics and Science

Increasing overall student achievement, especially lifting the performance of low achievers, is an essential goal of education reform in the United States. Reform efforts center on improving student learning in mathematics and science because these fields are widely regarded as critical to the nation's economy The following analyses present indicators of U.S. student performance in mathematics and science, including test scores of a recent cohort of U.S. kindergartners; long-term trends in the mathematics and science performance of U.S. fourth and eighth graders; and U.S. student performance in an international context, comparing U.S. fourth and eighth graders' mathematics and science test scores with those of their peers in other nations.