A2. Now listen to the second part of the news report, complete the leading statement and its supporting details.
So are students today smarter, better educated than they were thirty years ago? In some way, it's like asking whether baseball players today are better than they were in the past.
But the trends report puts today's students in on the same field as students from 30 years ago.
Today's students are doing better. The report points out that a much greater percentage of students today are taking tougher courses.
The percentage of thirteen-year-olds taking algebra is up. So is the percentage of seventeen-year-olds enrolled in calculus, biology and chemistry. Kids are even doing more homework than they did 30 years ago.
In math, the gap between boys and girls has all but disappeared. In science, thirteen- and seventeen-year-old boys still do better than girls, but at age nine, there is no difference.
Private school students outperformed public school students, but math and science scores for private school students have remained flat since 1980.
Education Department officials say three more important reports are due. New fourth grade reading scores will be released in February. A state by state breakdown of math scores will be ready by May. And a fresh batch of science scores will follow.