MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — New test results from a regional assessment of public school students show Vermont fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders scored slightly better at science than last year, but there's still room for improvement.

Results from New England Common Assessment Program tests in May were released this past week. They show one third of Vermont public high school juniors were rated proficient or higher at science. Thirty percent of eighth-graders were rated proficient or higher for their grade level, and 53 percent of fourth-graders made the grade.

All told, fourth-graders' scores were flat, while proficiency rates increased 1 percentage point among eighth-graders and 2 percentage points among high school juniors.

The tests combine scores from short-answer and multiple-choice questions with student write-ups of lab results from a science experiment.