What Science Content Do Teachers Emphasize at the Eighth Grade?
Teachers from the Benchmarking jurisdictions and the countries where
eighth-grade science was taught as a general or integrated course
were asked what subject matter they emphasized most in their classes
(general science, earth science, biology, etc.). Their responses,
shown in Exhibit
5.17, reveal that on average across all the TIMSS 1999 single-science
countries, more than half the eighth-grade students (58 percent) were
in classes where the emphasis was on general or integrated science.
Next most common was biology with 14 percent, and physical science
(physics and chemistry combined) with 11 percent.
In the United States, 41 percent of students were in classes emphasizing
general science, 28 percent earth science, and 21 percent physical
science. Just five percent of U.S. students were in science classes
emphasizing biology, three percent chemistry, and two percent physics.
The United States was unusual in its emphasis on earth science. Among
the 21 single-science countries in TIMSS, only Canada, Italy, and
the US had more than 10 percent of their students in classes emphasizing
earth science. It was more common for single-science countries to
place emphasis on physical science.
There was considerable variation across the Benchmarking jurisdictions
in the reported subject matter emphasis in science classes. Among
states, the percentage of students in classes emphasizing general
science ranged from four percent in Idaho to 72 percent in North Carolina.
The only Benchmarking states besides Idaho with percentages lower
than the US average were Connecticut, Missouri, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
and Texas. Earth science received least emphasis in Michigan (nine
percent of students) and greatest in Texas (52 percent). Benchmarking
states with more than one-fifth of the students in classes emphasizing
earth science, in addition to Texas, were Connecticut, Idaho, Missouri,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Physical science received
least emphasis in Texas and North Carolina (five and six percent,
respectively), and most in Idaho (50 percent). Eight of the states
had more than one-fifth of their students in classes emphasizing physical
science.
Among the districts and consortia, the greatest emphasis on general
science was reported in Chicago, the Fremont/Lincoln/Westside Public
Schools, Guilford County, Miami-Dade, and Naperville, all of which
had two-thirds or more of their students in classes emphasizing general
science. In contrast, the First in the World Consortium, Jersey City,
the Project smart Consortium, and Rochester each had less than one-quarter
of their students in such classes. There was less variation among
districts and consortia in the emphasis given earth science. While
68 percent of the students in the Delaware Science Coalition were
in classes emphasizing earth science, nine of the districts and consortia
had less than 10 percent of their students in such classes, and seven
of them had one percent or less. There was substantial variation among
districts and consortia in the emphasis given physical science. The
Academy School District, Jersey City and Rochester each had more than
half their students in classes emphasizing physical science, while
Chicago, the Delaware Science Coalition, the Fremont/Lincoln/Westside
Public Schools, Guilford County, the Michigan Invitational Group,
and Naperville had less than one-fifth of the students in such classes.
