Urban schoolkids lag in science learning: study

Public school students in the nation's largest cities, many from low-income households, trail their peers elsewhere in the United States in a test of science proficiency, said a report released on Thursday.

Fourth- and eighth-graders in most of the 17 participating urban districts typically scored lower than the national average, according to the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress Science.

The report card showed that 44 percent of fourth-graders at schools in cities with a population of at least 250,000 fall below the standard for basic proficiency in science, compared to 29 percent nationally.

At the eighth grade level 56 percent of big city public school students fell below the basic standard compared to 38 percent nationally.