The higher scores in the eighth grade in America

American eighth-graders improved their math and science scores on an international test last year, but fourth-graders' scores were flat and all students lagged behind other industrialized nations, &to= english.pravda.ru/main/2002/10/29/38825.html ' target=_blank>Boston College researchers said yesterday. US pupils scored above the international average on the tests, given to students in dozens of wealthy and poor nations every four years. But the grades overall were mediocre for a prosperous nation that devotes billions of dollars to education, test officials said. "The United States really is an underachiever, given our economy, our educational level, the resources that we put into education," said Ina V. S. Mullis, codirector of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and an education professor at Boston College, which runs the study. In Washington, D.C., national education officials hailed the higher scores in the eighth grade, especially in algebra. Black and Hispanic students also did better, officials said, crediting the improvement to clearer standards for what schools should teach and greater federal and state oversight of schools, informs the Boston. According to the NYTimes, eighth-grade students in the United States scored better in both mathematics and science last year than in 1999, but still lagged their peers in a number of other industrial countries, according to a survey of student performance released yesterday. Fourth graders, who also ranked behind their peers in other developed countries, showed a modest decline in science and no gain in math compared with 1995, the last time they were surveyed. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, who called the tests a good indicator of &to= english.pravda.ru/main/2002/04/20/27815_.html ' target=_blank>school performance, said the eighth-grade results demonstrated "that a greater emphasis on higher standards in the classroom leads to improved performance and a smaller &to= engforum.pravda.ru/showthread. php3?threadid=68921&goto=nextoldest ' target=_blank>achievement gap."

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