New York state’s fourth graders scored slightly lower than the national average on the latest science assessments while eighth graders here scored on par with the rest of the nation, new data show.

While racial achievement gaps were evident in both grades in the state, the gap among eighth grade students here was significantly higher than the nation as a whole.

The results on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress showed 30 percent of the state’s fourth graders scoring proficiently — compared to 32 percent nationally — and 31 percent of eighth graders passing the proficient mark.

The test, which is not comparable to past results because it has been revised since it was last administered in 2005, is considered the gold standard. It sets a high bar for passing.

Among the state’s differences with the nation, New York’s black eighth graders scored 41 points lower than white students – on a 300 point scale – compared to a gap of 36 points in the country overall.

White eighth grade students here scored 164 points on average on the exam.

The state’s Hispanic eighth graders scored 39 points lower than white students on average, whereas nationally that difference was a narrower gap of 30 points.

In addition, the scores of high-poverty students in New York were 33 points lower than those of students whose families aren’t considered low income – a margin that was 5 points greater than the national average.

While those same gaps existed for New York’s fourth graders, they were not significantly different from the gaps seen in the nation as a whole.

Scores for 12th graders, which were not released by state, showed just 21 percent of students across the country scoring at or above the proficient mark.

The city’s results on the 2009 national science exam are scheduled to be released next month.