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Results From The

NAEP 1994 Geography Assessment

— At A Glance

Governments, economies, and ecosystems do not exist

in isolation. People and regions are connected by trade

agreements, global markets, communications networks,

political alliances, and international organizations.

Increasingly, nations are sharing concerns about the

global environment. United States foreign and economic

policies must account for events across the globe:

Competition for jobs in Peoria is as likely to come from

Kuala Lumpur as from Fresno. Events from around the

world, such as the unification of Germany, affect us in

profound ways. If our children are to be productive and

responsible citizens of both the United States and the

global community, they must know and understand the

connections among the world’s regions and peoples and

the circumstances that lead these connections to evolve

and change. In other words, they must have a working

knowledge of the subject of geography.

To assess the current level of geography

knowledge, the 1994 National Assessment of

Educational Progress (NAEP) assessed geography at

grades 4, 8, and 12. The assessment probed students’

ability to recall, understand, analyze, and interpret the

broad field of geography. As the nation’s foremost

ongoing educational survey, NAEP results track trends

in students’ performance and allow concerned readers

to evaluate whether our nation’s children are developing

the geography skills and knowledge essential for

effective participation in the economy and the polity.

The highlights of this extensive, innovative assessment

are presented in the following pages. (More detailed

results can be found in other NAEP reports about the

geography assessment. Information on how to obtain

these reports is found on the last page of this brochure.)

The structure and content of the geography

assessment were guided by a comprehensive framework,

or blueprint, developed under the direction of the

National Assessment Governing Board. Three geography

content areas served as the core organizing structure of

the assessment. The content areas, listed on the

following page, were intended to ensure that all major

branches of geography study were covered and that

emphasis on the various areas was balanced.
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© Space and Place: Knowledge of geography as it

relates to particular places on Earth, to spatial

patterns on Earth’s surface, and to physical and

human processes that shape such spacial patterns

© Environment and Society: Knowledge of geography

as it relates to the interaction between environment

and society

© Spatial Dynamics and Connections: Knowledge of

geography as it relates to spatial connections among

people, places, and regions

Student performance is summarized on the

NAEP geography scale, which ranges from 0 to 500. In

addition, results for each grade are reported according

to three achievement levels: Basic, Proficient, and

Advanced. These achievement levels are based on

judgments about what students should know and be

able to do in geography. The Basic level denotes partial

mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are

fundamental for proficient work at each grade.

The Proficient level represents solid academic

performance and demonstrated competence over

challenging subject matter. The Advanced level

signifies superior performance.

It should be noted that the setting of

achievement levels on NAEP is relatively new and in

transition. However, those responsible for NAEP also

believe that the achievement levels are useful and

valuable in reporting on the educational achievement of

the nation’s students.

Major Findings for the Nation

© The average score of students in grade 4 was 206.

The bottom 10 percent of the population scored at

or below 146, and the top 10 percent scored at or

above 257.

© At grade 8, the average score was 260. The bottom

10 percent of the population scored at or below 213,

and the top 10 percent scored at or above 302.

© The average score of students in grade 12 was 285.

The bottom 10 percent scored at or below 244, and

the top 10 percent scored at or above 321.

What would be the best title for this picture?

A The Tides

B The Water Cycle

C The Seasons

D Ocean Currents

Answer: B

© At grades 4, 8, and 12, approximately 70 percent

of students were able to reach the Basic level.

© The Proficient level was reached by 22 percent of

fourth graders, 28 percent of eighth graders, and 27

percent of twelfth graders.

© On individual assessment tasks, students

demonstrated a range of competencies. For example:

• At grade 4, 79 percent of the students could

identify the water cycle from an illustration (see

below); 70 percent could draw a generally accurate

map of an island from a written description; 59

percent could use a map to explain the

concentration of highways in the eastern United

States; and 13 percent could describe two

important effects of an oil spill in the ocean.
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Latitude on this map is represented by

A circles

B shaded areas

C straight lines

D convergent lines

Answer: A

Which of the following countries has the largest volume

and value of trade with the United States?

A Japan

B Great Britain

C Canada

D Germany

Answer: C

The assessment included both multiple-choice

questions, such as those shown previously, and constructed-response questions. Constructed-response

questions require students to write responses of as little

as a few sentences, or as much as a few paragraphs. For

example, the question shown below was given to students at grade 8. Some credit was awarded for student

responses that were only partially correct. Thirty-six

percent of eighth graders received full credit for their

responses.

Look at the map above, which shows three possible

routes for a railroad line that will be built to connect

Red City with Bluetown.

Which route would be the least expensive to construct?

Give two reasons why the route you chose would be

the least expensive.

1 __________________________________________

2 __________________________________________

• At grade 8, 90 percent of students knew where to

locate information in an atlas; 70 percent

could understand why immigrants congregate in

New York City; 48 percent could identify latitude

on a polar map projection (see below) ; and 36

percent could identify and explain two reasons why

a particular route for a railroad would prove

cheaper to construct than an alternate route.

• At grade 12, 91 percent of students could use

a map to identify an area of earthquake activity;

66 percent could construct a precipitation pie chart

from tabled data; 55 percent could give at least two

geographically accurate reasons that a shopping

center should be placed at a given location; and

10 percent could identify Canada as the United

States’ largest trading partner (see below).
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Major Findings for

Student Subgroups

© As has been the case in other NAEP assessments,

there were statistically significant differences in the

performance of major subgroups of the population.

For example, at all grades White and Asian students

had higher average scores than did their Black and

Hispanic counterparts.

© Consistent with findings in other NAEP assessments,

there was a strong relationship between differing

levels of parental education and performance on the

NAEP geography assessment. As a general rule, the

more education students reported that their parents

had received, the better the students performed on

the assessment.

© Male students at grades 4, 8, and 12 performed at a

higher level than females.

© At all three grades, students attending nonpublic

schools performed at a higher level than did students

attending public schools.

Contextual Factors Related

to Geography Performance

A diverse range of home and school factors influence

the ways and extent to which students learn geography.

Students who participated in the NAEP assessment were

asked to complete questionnaires about their home and

school experiences related to geography learning. Also,

teachers completed questionnaires about their students’

instructional experiences. The results of these surveys

help provide a context for interpreting the assessment

scores and provide policymakers with information about

variables that are positively and negatively related to

geography achievement.

© Over 40 percent of the students at grades 4 and 8,

and 25 percent of the students at grade 12, reported

watching four or more hours of television each

day. In most cases, the more television students

reported watching the worse they performed on

the geography assessment.

© Fifty-six percent of the fourth graders, 39 percent of

the eighth graders, and 31 percent of the twelfth

graders reported discussing their studies at home

daily. By contrast, 17, 21, and 24 percent of the

students at each grade, respectively, reported never or

hardly ever discussing their studies. Students who

reported not discussing their studies at home

performed at a lower level than did students who

discussed their studies on a regular basis.

© Geography instruction is limited for grade 4 students.

More than 60 percent of students had teachers who

reported spending less than 45 minutes per week on

geography instruction. Most eighth-grade students

reported having taken at least one geography class

since the sixth grade.

© Twenty-six percent of fourth graders, 19 percent of

eighth graders, and 14 percent of twelfth graders

indicated that geography was their favorite subject.

At all grades, students who indicated that geography

was their favorite subject performed at a higher level

than did those who indicated that they liked other

subjects better.

For More Information . . .

More complete results of the NAEP 1994 geography

assessment are available in two National Center of

Education Statistics publications:

NAEP 1994 Geography: A First Look

NAEP 1994 Geography Report Card

The First Look highlights the overall and demographic

results, while the Report Card is a more extensive

treatment of the findings and includes discussions of

contextual factors that are related to geography

performance.

For ordering information on these reports, write:

National Library of Education

Office of Educational Research and Improvement

U.S. Department of Education

555 New Jersey Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20208-5641

or call 1-800-424-1616 (in Washington, DC

metropolitan area call 202-219-1651).