Achievement at the Lower Quarter Benchmark
Exhibit
2.20 describes performance at the Lower Quarter Benchmark. At
this level of performance, students typically could demonstrate knowledge
of some basic facts about the earth’s physical features and could
use information presented in simple diagrams. In Example Item 17 (see
Exhibit
2.21), 82 percent of students internationally were able to interpret
the pictorial diagram of the earth’s layers and identify the
center as the hottest layer. Among Benchmarking participants, almost
all students (85 percent or more) gave the correct answer.
In the life sciences, students at the Lower Quarter Benchmark showed
some basic knowledge of human biology. A full 87 percent of students
internationally recognized that exercise causes an increase in their
breathing and pulse rates (see Example Item 18 in Exhibit
2.22). Performance on this item was even higher in the United
States and most Benchmarking jurisdictions. Student performance exceeded
the international average in the United States overall and in 19 of
the Benchmarking entities, and was not significantly below the international
average in any entity. However, typically only students scoring at
higher benchmarks could relate the link between exercise and pulse
and breathing rate to the function of the circulatory or respiratory
system.
At the Lower Quarter Benchmark, students could recognize some facts
about familiar physical phenomena. In Example Item 19 in Exhibit
2.23, they demonstrated basic knowledge of light reflection by
recognizing that white surfaces reflect more light than colored surfaces.
Internationally and in the United States, more than 80 percent of
students answered this item correctly. Among Benchmarking participants,
only in Naperville, Michigan, and Montgomery County was the percentage
of students choosing the correct answer significantly greater than
the international average.
Students at the Lower Quarter Benchmark could also recognize that
there is greater evaporation from a larger surface area, as shown
in Example Item 20 in Exhibit
2.24. Internationally on average, 84 percent of students could
interpret the pictorial diagrams showing liquid in containers of different
shapes and identify the container with the largest surface area as
the one from which the liquid would evaporate first Performance was
at about the international average on this question in the United
States and in many of the Benchmarking jurisdictions. However, performance
in First in the World, the Academy School District, Project smart,
Naperville, and Michigan was significantly above the international
average. In each of these entities, the item was answered correctly
by more than 90 percent of the eighth-grade students.
