Table 4.
Performance and prediction on life sciences items for standards in 5–8 grade banda
| Students | Teacher predictions | Teachers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | Subtopic | Mean | SE | Mean | SE | Mean | SE | Number of items |
| I. Structure and Function in Living Systems | A. Organisms have levels of organization. | 0.44 | 0.01 | 0.61 | 0.03 | 0.96 | 0.02 | 18 |
| B. All organisms are composed of cells. | 0.49 | 0.01 | 0.66 | 0.03 | 0.93 | 0.03 | 21 | |
| C. Cells perform many functions. | 0.67 | 0.00 | 0.67 | 0.02 | 0.97 | 0.01 | 25 | |
| D. Specialized cells perform unique functions. | 0.51 | 0.00 | 0.62 | 0.02 | 0.92 | 0.02 | 25 | |
| E. Humans have many different systems. | 0.53 | 0.01 | 0.63 | 0.02 | 0.85 | 0.04 | 18 | |
| F. Disease is a breakdown in an organism. | 0.68 | 0.00 | 0.69 | 0.02 | 0.98 | 0.01 | 26 | |
| II. Reproduction and Heredity | A. All organisms reproduce. | 0.54 | 0.01 | 0.69 | 0.03 | 0.95 | 0.02 | 26 |
| B. Many species, including humans, reproduce sexually. | 0.73 | 0.00 | 0.74 | 0.01 | 0.98 | 0.01 | 26 | |
| C. An organism passes instructions to a new generation. | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.60 | 0.01 | 0.95 | 0.01 | 26 | |
| D. Hereditary information is in genes. | 0.78 | 0.00 | 0.64 | 0.02 | 0.92 | 0.02 | 15 | |
| E. Characteristics are inherited or come from environmental interactions. | 0.57 | 0.00 | 0.65 | 0.02 | 0.88 | 0.02 | 15 | |
| III. Regulation and Behavior | A. Organisms must obtain and use resources to survive and reproduce. | 0.69 | 0.00 | 0.68 | 0.02 | 0.97 | 0.01 | 17 |
| B. Homeostasis is key to organism survival. | 0.68 | 0.00 | 0.65 | 0.02 | 0.93 | 0.02 | 26 | |
| C. Behavior is a response to a stimulus. | 0.66 | 0.00 | 0.67 | 0.02 | 0.97 | 0.01 | 17 | |
| D. Behavior evolves through adaptation. | 0.44 | 0.00 | 0.59 | 0.02 | 0.91 | 0.02 | 22 | |
| IV. Populations and Ecosystems | A. A population comprises all members of a species living together; populations plus environment form an ecosystem. | 0.54 | 0.00 | 0.63 | 0.01 | 0.92 | 0.01 | 27 |
| B. Populations have functions in ecosystems. | 0.66 | 0.00 | 0.64 | 0.02 | 0.96 | 0.01 | 31 | |
| C. Sunlight is the main energy source for ecosystems. | 0.49 | 0.00 | 0.65 | 0.02 | 0.90 | 0.02 | 25 | |
| D. Populations are limited by various factors. | 0.78 | 0.00 | 0.69 | 0.01 | 0.96 | 0.01 | 20 | |
| V. Diversity and Adaptations of Organisms | A. Millions of species are alive now and share a common ancestry. | 0.76 | 0.01 | 0.74 | 0.04 | 0.96 | 0.04 | 13 |
| B. Species diversity arises from evolution. | 0.36 | 0.00 | 0.62 | 0.01 | 0.93 | 0.02 | 20 | |
| C. Extinction has occurred and does occur. | 0.51 | 0.00 | 0.66 | 0.02 | 0.94 | 0.02 | 25 | |
aDescriptive phrases for the content of each standard are grouped by grade band. Student mean scores by standard ranged from a minimum of 0.36 correct to a high of 0.78. The minimum mean score for teachers was 0.85 and the maximum was 0.98. “Teacher predictions” refers to how well teachers predicted their students’ performance by standard.