NCSE's Townley provides context for NAEP results to Chalkbeat
Photo by The Tampa Bay Estuary Program on Unsplash.
NCSE Executive Director Amanda L. Townley provided context to understand the disappointing results of the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science test in discussion with Chalkbeat (September 8, 2025).
"American eighth graders posted their lowest science scores since 2009 on a major national test, one more indication of the hit that learning took during the pandemic," Chalkbeat explained. "Average scores declined for all students, but the decrease was particularly pronounced for low-performing students ... The gap between high and low performers was the largest it has been in the history of the test."
The story added, "Science educators who spoke with Chalkbeat without having seen the NAEP results said they are just one measure of student learning, but that the trends NAEP identifies are worth paying attention to."
Townley told Chalkbeat that inquiry-based science education, which is increasingly common in state science standards like the Next Generation Science Standards, requires time, which is often not available. She also noted that science education is further undermined by the slashing of funding for informal science education programs and the accelerating politicization of scientific topics such as the efficacy and safety of vaccines.
Townley and Christine Royce of Shippensburg University, a past president of the National Science Teaching Association, agreed that middle school students need a grounding in the basics of science and scientific thinking.
