State Superintendent  of Public Instruction Cindy Hill says even though Wyoming scored well above the national average on the recently-released National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science test, she thinks the state can do even better in the future.

About 1800 Wyoming 8th graders--or about a third of Wyoming students in that grade--took part in the national test, which this year focused on science-related academic skills. Hill says Wyoming finished tied  for sixth in the nation, scoring well above the overall national average. Hill says the score was good news, especially in view of the fact that the scores included such a large portion of the state's 8th grade students.

Hill says she was especially pleased to see that among sub-groups of students who typically don't score well on science tests, including girls, low income students and Hispanics, in Wyoming their scores were much closer to the overall state average than in most other states, adding "we're closing the gap". Even though she called the overall results good news, Hill says Wyoming educators are not satisfied with the results and are determined to do even better in the future.

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